$3.2 billion worth gold treasure unearthed in Northwest Chinese valley

Gold  |  2013-05-23 03:05:55   |   By

According to reports, geological workers have discovered a huge gold mine worth $3.2 billion along the Ili valley in north west China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region

BEIJING (Scrap Monster) : According to reports, geological workers have discovered a huge gold mine worth $3.2 billion along the Ili valley in north west China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The mine is estimated to have gold reserves of at least 53 tonnes. The projected economic value of the mine is nearly 20 billion yuan( $ 3.2 billion). Xinyuan Geology and Mineral Resources Bureau in association with the Hainan based Meisheng Group which had invested almost 150 million yuan for the five-year long exploration activities declared that the mine also holds abundant copper resources in addition to gold. The mine is estimated to have copper resources to the tune of 31,200 tonnes which is worth $230 million. The mine extends to almost 3 kilometres and has a depth of 60 to 300 metres.

This is the second major gold discovery along the Ili valley, following the one in 1998 which had held nearly 50 tonnes of gold in it.

The production of the mine is expected to commence by end 2015 with a projected annual gold output of 3 tonnes.

The Ili Valley is located in the northwest part of Xinjiang, about 60 kilometers east of the Kazakhstan border. Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China in the northwest of the country. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million square kilometres. Xinjiang borders Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.