Lhasa to be national nonferrous metal mining base

　　Staff work in the acid accumulator plant of the Yulong Mining Ltd., Co. in Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region. (Photo Source: chinatibetnews.com)

　　BEIJING. Aug. 24 (Xinhuanet) -- Lhasa is expected to be a national nonferrous metal resource exploitation base in the near future, according to Dorje, director of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Geological Exploration Bureau.

　　At a forum on mining industry integration and economic expansion in Lhasa, Dorje pointed out that with excellent conditions for mineralization, Lhasa has an obvious comparative advantage in mineral deposits.

　　Statistics show that Lhasa has 20 large-scale and 240 medium-to-small deposits. By now about 50 types of minerals have been discovered, with dominant minerals being nonferrous metals such as copper, lead, and zinc, all of which are in short supply in China.

　　Lhasa has a proved copper reserve of more than 20 million tons, lead and zinc reserve of over 15 million tons and iron-ore reserve of at least 10 million tons.