Mongolia coal discovery may reach 1 trillion tons

Erdos City of Inner Mongolia announced in November that it had discovered an 18 billion-ton high-grade coal deposit. Government data show that the deposit could be 1 trillion tons about 1,500 meters below the ground. Chen Yuchuan, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, said that the geological survey shows that the coalfield consists mainly of high-grade coal with high calorific value, less ash and sulfur. He said the coalfield has set a record in terms of area and size.

The coal seam, which averages 250 meters wide, is widely distributed with a higher ratio of coal, simpler structure and stable geological status, making it feasible for easy exploitation, Chen said. The coalfield is in the western part of the Dongsheng District, belonging to one of China's key coal deposit areas.

Before the discovery, Erdos had a proven deposit of 150 billion tons, about one-sixth of China's total. Erdos' coal deposit consists of brown coal, long flame coal, non-caking coal, weakly caking coal, gas coal, fat coal and coking coal. There are also scores of oil fields and gas fields and oil shale deposits in the city, with more surveys underway. Besides coal and oil, mirabilite, natural soda, salt and gypsum are also found in Erdos.

Data show that the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has a proven deposit of 658.4 billion tons of coal, ranking it first in China.

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