Known reserves of minerals up sharply

China's known mineral and energy reserves have grown significantly over the past five years, the Ministry of Natural Resources said on Monday.

Many new deposits of major strategic minerals - including gold, natural gas, shale gas, flake graphite and tungsten - were discovered from 2012 to 2017, according to a report by the ministry.

Flake graphite, which has a wide range of applications, including fuel cells, coatings and thermal materials, saw the biggest increase in reserves - nearly doubling.