www.mineweb.net | int_beat Massive metals deposits revealed along China’s Qinghai-Tibet Railway

www.mineweb.net | int_beat Massive metals deposits revealed along China’s Qinghai-Tibet Railway: "Chinese geologists have disclosed one of the closely-held secrets that motivated the nation to spend US$3.7 billion on the Tibet railway: the discovery of large mineral deposits that may reduce the nation’s dependence on mineral imports.

Critics had long questioned China’s claim that the development of Tibet was the sole reason behind the building of the 1,956-km Qinghai-Tibet Railway. Now, the official Chinese news agency Xinhua has reported that Meng Xiani, director of the China Geological Survey (CGS), has revealed that 16 large copper, lead, zinc, iron iron and crude oil deposits along the railway are expected to yield 18 million tons of copper, and 10 million tons of lead and zinc. "