China has discovered the world's deepest sandstone-type industrial uranium mineralisation at a depth of 1,820 metres in the Tarim Basin, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, said a report, citing the China Atomic Energy Authority (CAEA).
It sets a new global record for the deepest sandstone-type industrial uranium mineralisation ever found, according to People's Daily Online.
The discovery plays an exemplary and leading role in sandstone uranium exploration and will significantly enhance China's capability and expertise in uranium resource exploration in desert regions, stated the CAEA.
Chinese Ministry of Natural Resources had early this month reported a surge in mineral discoveries in H1, identifying 38 new deposits - including 25 classified as large or medium-sized.
Uranium exploration aims to locate and identify uranium deposits of industrial value, assessing their resource potential and development prospects.
Industrial uranium mineralisation serves as a direct and reliable indicator for discovering industrial uranium deposits.
The mineralisation discovered this time represents China's first finding of thick industrial uranium mineralisation within the reddish, variegated strata of a previously unexplored area in the heart of the desert within the Tarim Basin, said the report.
It fills a gap in mineral prospecting within China's largest desert-covered region, it added.