Geological investigations and mineral resources explorations carried out in China in 2005 resulted in the discovery of 169 large and medium-sized mineral occurrences or prospects, of which 40 were of energy minerals, 3 were of ferrous metals, 44 were of nonferrous metals, 11 were of precious metals, 7 were of metallurgical auxiliary raw materials, 5 were of raw materials of chemical industry, 52 were of nonmetallic minerals for construction and other purposes, and 7 were of mineral water, groundwater and carbon dioxide gas. Resources and reserves of dominant minerals   such as oil, gas, coal, iron, manganese, bauxite, lead and gold increased and those of chromium, copper, zinc, pyrite, phosphate and potash decreased.

In 2005, the new whole-industry standards for calculating oil and gas reserves were promulgated and implemented. Important results were achieved in resources investigation and evaluation and a large gas field was discovered by deep exploration in the Daqing Oil Field. Dynamic monitoring of reserves of solid mineral resources was steadily pushed forward. A breakthrough was produced in the reform of socialized service system of geological data. The “State Council’s Decision on the Strengthening of Geological Work” was drafted through research. There was actively explored a new geological work system in which the central and local geological departments or institutions would bear their respective responsibilities, the government and the enterprise would perform their respective functions, and the public-welfare service and commercial service would be organically combined. Potentials of China’s major mineral resources were analyzed comprehensively and systematically; and some key mineral resources and mineral prospects were chosen for more detailed exploration, thus pointing out the direction of search for mineral deposits. The reserve shortage degree and resource potential of “crisis” mines were preliminarily ascertained and satisfactory results were achieved in pilot projects. The first batch of tasks of exploration of back-up resources for “crisis” mines was assigned.

Up to the end of 2005, there had been granted 21,824 mineral exploration licenses (including 9,282 newly issued ones), of which 300 were for oil and gas and 60 for coal bed methane; there had also been granted 92,582 mining licenses (including 16,820 newly issued ones), of which 41 were for oil and gas mining rights. The exploration rights granted by public bidding, auction and listing was conducted in 20 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, resulting in the grant of 554 exploration right licenses and the grant fees of 1.043 billion yuan（～US$0.13 billion）. Furthermore, the mining rights granted by public bidding, auction and listing was performed in 28 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, leading to the grant of 13,227 mining right licenses and the grant fees of 3.949 billion yuan（～US$0.49 billion）. In 2005, the valid foreign-related exploration licenses totaled 206 and the valid foreign-related mining licenses aggregated 187.

New success was scored in attracting foreign investment to the mineral exploration in Yunnan, Inner Mongolia, Sichuan, Gansu, Qinghaiand other provinces or autonomous regions. Major progress was made in the exploration and development by foreign investors in the Shagouxi Ag-Pb-Zn mine of Luoning, HenanProvince and the Jinfeng gold mine of GuizhouProvince. Up to the present, more than 80 international mining enterprises have been undertaking mineral exploration and development in China. And correspondingly, some Chinese enterprises have been engaged in similar activities in over 30 countries of the world.

The productions of mineral commodities in Chinagrew rapidly in 2005. The 2005 productions of some mineral commodities were as follows: 2.19 billion tons of raw coal, 181 million tons of crude oil, 421 million tons of iron ore, 352 million tons of crude steel, a total of 16.35 million tons of 10 nonferrous metals, 30.44 million tons of phosphate ore, 44.54 million tons of crude salt, and 1.06 billion tons of cement. In China’s western region, the oil and gas productions increased steadily, and large-scale development and utilization of coal-bed methane were conducted.

In 2005, China’s total trade volume of mineral commodities exceeded US$300 billion, and its imports of large-tonnage scarce mineral commodities continued to increase. The 2005 imports of some mineral commodities are shown below: 126.82 million tons of crude oil, 275.23 million tons of iron ore, 4.58 million tons of manganese ore, 3.02 million tons of chromite ore, 4.06 million tons of copper ore, and 9.17 million tons of potash fertilizer. Prices of mineral commodities kept rising. There occurred a surplus of production capacity for part of the raw and processed materials such as steel products. The profits of mining enterprises declined. Most mineral commodities tended to attain a balance between the supply and demand, but a short supply occurred with natural gas.