Chinese Geologists Discover Third 1,000-Tonne Gold Belt in Sacred Kunlun Mountains
- MM24 News Desk
- 5 days ago
- 2 min read
Chinese scientists have uncovered a massive gold deposit in the Kunlun Mountains of Xinjiang, with estimated reserves exceeding 1,000 tonnes. This discovery, led by senior engineer He Fubao and the Kashgar Geological Team, marks the third gold belt of this colossal scale announced in China this year, dramatically suggesting the nation's total gold reserves are far larger than previously believed.
The find was detailed in a paper published in the peer-reviewed journal Acta Geoscientica Sinica. It confirms ancient myths that revered the Kunlun range as a divine repository of "all treasures on Earth," a legend that modern science had, until now, been unable to substantiate.
This rapid succession of discoveries is attributed to a massive surge in exploration funding and the deployment of revolutionary homegrown technology, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
Before these announcements, the global mining industry estimated that only about 3,000 tonnes of gold remained unmined in all of China. The revelation of three separate 1,000-tonne-plus belts in less than a year—following major finds in Liaoning and Hunan provinces—fundamentally reshapes that picture. "The outline of a thousand-tonne-scale gold belt in West Kunlun, Xinjiang, is now taking shape," wrote He Fubao and his colleagues.
The specific site, known as the Kuokejilega deposit, is located in a colossal, 100-kilometer-long scar in the Earth's crust—a "ductile-brittle shear zone." Here, over hundreds of millions of years, the crust was violently twisted apart, allowing ancient rivers of superheated, gold-laden water to surge through deep cracks.
The gold is hidden within 400-million-year-old rock, dispersed as sparse dustings in minerals like arsenopyrite. Geologists have identified 87 gold-bearing bodies at the site, with the mineralisation concentrated in the upper 300 metres of the crust, making it relatively accessible for future mining.
This discovery was powered by a suite of cutting-edge Chinese technologies. As reported by the SCMP, these include artificial intelligence, the world's most powerful ground-penetrating radar, and highly sensitive mineral exploration satellites.
A key tool is a massive, cross-shaped antenna array built in 2018, with a surface area over five times that of New York City. This facility emits powerful low-frequency waves that can map geology at depths of several kilometres with unprecedented precision, a capability no other country currently possesses.
"The Kuokejilega gold deposit is the first large-scale gold find in the western segment of the West Kunlun metallogenic belt in recent years," He's team stated. They confirmed that its resource potential places it firmly in the "super-large" category. The impact of these new prospecting technologies extends beyond China's borders, having already helped identify new gold deposits in regions like West and Central Africa.
This third major discovery not only fills a critical gap in the region's geological understanding but also reveals the "enormous potential for further gold exploration" across China. By leveraging these technological breakthroughs, Chinese researchers are significantly strengthening the nation's position in global resource supply chains, turning the sacred legends of Kunlun into a modern geological reality.
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