Exhibition to shine light on Chenzhou's resources

City is center of Hunan province's abundance of geological reserves, Hao Nan and Feng Zhiwei report.

Chenzhou, Hunan province, is attracting a lot of attention from stone and gem collectors worldwide as the host of Asia's largest mineral exhibition from May 21 to 25.

Organized by the Hunan provincial government and the Ministry of Land and Resources, the China (Chenzhou) Mineral and Gem Show will provide a "visual feast" of minerals and gems for exhibitors and enthusiasts from more than 10 countries and regions, said Yi Pengfei, Chenzhou Party chief.

Chenzhou is an ideal host for the exhibition, Yi said, because most of the province's geological resources are located near the city, including mineral deposits such as nonferrous metals and crystal mines.

Gems that have been discovered in the region include Tongtian jade, Huanglong jade and Qicai stone. There is a total gem reserve of 20 million metric tons worth over 600 billion yuan ($96.7 billion) in and around Chenzhou.

Industrial insiders said jade and gems from Chenzhou are affordable but have the potential to appreciate in value.

The May exhibition will offer 2,600 booths on 100,000 square meters of floor space for exhibitors to showcase their minerals, jewelry, meteorites and root carvings.

About 300 booths will be provided for overseas exhibitors, including 10 booths for a delegation from South Africa, its first time attending the event.

Morocco will be exhibiting trilobite and while Australia is slated to display its native gold and plesiosaur fossils.

Rare mineral products from Hunan and other provinces in China will be shown, organizers said.

Yi Pengfei said he hopes the city will promote environmentally safe methods of extracting minerals during the show.

Mineral resources

Attendees of the May exhibition who have time to explore Hunan province will find that there is a diversity of natural habitats.

The province has 17 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the internationally renowned Wulingyuan and Langshan mountains.

Experts said it is rare for so many picturesque tourist spots to be concentrated in one place. Hunan province and the surroundings provinces of Jiangxi, Hubei, Sichuan, Guizhou and Guangdong form China's most important cluster of geological zones.

In the tungsten-mining area of Yaogangxian in Chenzhou's Yizhang county, experts have found 308 different types of minerals, some of which were never before been found elsewhere in the world.

The Yaogangxian tungsten mine is also China's largest production base for wolframite, which in 1982 was featured on one of four mineral-themed stamps issued that year in China.

Shizhuyuan is another town in Chenzhou with rich mineral resources.

Wang Yuquan, deputy head of the Hunan Shizhuyuan Nonferrous Metals Co, said there are 143 kinds of minerals in the company's 35 square kilometers of mining that make up 360 million tons of proven mineral reserves.

There are also 1.62 million tons of metal reserves.

The area also boasts the province's largest national mine park that has been under construction since 2012.

With a total investment of 630 million yuan, the park is scheduled to cover an area of nearly 87 sq km, including a mine culture expo zone, a sports park, a water park and a museum of minerals.

Contact the writers at haonan@chinadaily.com.cn and fengzhiwei@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 05/19/2015 page12)