China may have discovered a nearly limitless energy source capable of sustaining the country for tens of thousands of years. A newly declassified geological survey suggests that China's thorium reserves -- already among the largest globally -- could be far more abundant than previously believed.
According to a report, detailing the survey, published in Chinese journal Geological Review -- just five years of mining waste from a single iron ore site in Inner Mongolia holds enough thorium to meet US household energy demands for over 1,000 years, South China Morning Post (SCMP) report.
Scientists estimate that the Bayan Obo mining complex, if fully utilised, could yield 1 million tonnes of thorium—enough to sustain China’s energy needs for an astonishing 60,000 years.
“For over a century, nations have been engaging in wars over fossil fuels. It turns out the endless energy source lies right under our feet,” a Beijing-based geologist told SCMP on condition of anonymity.
“Every nation has thorium. Imagine cargo ships powered by container-sized reactors crossing oceans for years without refuelling.”
Thorium, a silver-coloured metal with immense energy potential, generates 200 times more power than uranium. Thorium molten-salt reactors (TMSRs) stand out due to their properties —they are compact, immune to meltdowns, do not need water cooling, and produce minimal long-lasting radioactive waste.
According to the survey led by senior engineer Fan Honghai with the National Key Laboratory of Uranium Resource Exploration-Mining and Nuclear Remote Sensing in Beijing, China has 233 thorium-rich zones spread across five major belts, from Xinjiang in the west to Guangdong along the coast, the SCMP report added further.
The study highlights that magmatic and hydrothermal deposits dominate, frequently interwoven with rare earth elements.
According to Fan and his team, the Bayan Obo mega-deposit—recognised as the world’s largest rare earth mine—has massive thorium reserves in its tailings alone, left unutilised during decades of iron extraction.
“These thorium resources in tailings remain totally untouched,” they wrote in the report, SCMP report added further.
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