Hainan to Promote the Exploration and Development of National Strategic Minerals and Prohibit the Mining of Rare Earth Metals



Hainan to Promote the Exploration and Development of National Strategic Minerals and Prohibit the Mining of Rare Earth Metals

The Land and Resources Department of Hainan Province said on November 10 that the Overall Mineral Resources Plan of Hainan Province (2016-2020) (hereinafter referred to as the "Plan") has gone into effect with the approval of the Ministry of Land and Resources, and that the province will strongly promote the exploration and development of national strategic minerals such as oil and gas and prohibit the mining of rare earth metals and coral-reef limestones.

The Land and Resources Department of Hainan Province said on November 10 that the Overall Mineral Resources Plan of Hainan Province (2016-2020) (hereinafter referred to as the "Plan") has gone into effect with the approval of the Ministry of Land and Resources, and that the province will strongly promote the exploration and development of national strategic minerals such as oil and gas and prohibit the mining of rare earth metals and coral-reef limestones.

The Plan requires Hainan to build a supporting base for the exploration and development of oil and gas resources and to implement the ocean power strategy. From 2017, Hainan shall stop the approval of new non-national strategic mineral exploration projects, strictly control the total mining amount of minerals such as molybdenum, zircon, ilmenite, fluorite, quartz sand, facing stone and kaolin, intensively and orderly develop supporting mineral resources such as sand and gravel for architectural use, geothermal energy and drinking natural mineral water, and prohibit the mining of rare earth metals and coral reef limestones and the digging of clay minerals for bricks from cultivated land.

Hainan will properly adjust and control the total mining amount of mineral resources. By 2020, the number of mines will be controlled at about 300, and the proportion of large and medium-sized mines will reach about 50%. The comprehensive utilization rate of low-grade ores and tailings will be no less than 60%, and the comprehensive utilization rate of surrounding rock and horse stone will reach 80%.

The Plan proposes that Hainan should push ahead with the green development model, promote the transformation and upgrading of mining enterprises, carry out the construction and demonstration project for about 60 provincial-level green mines through policy support and classification guidance, and build about 120 green mines by 2020.

The Plan clearly states that Hainan should set up a fund for environmental governance and restoration of mines, implement the mining enterprise governance and restoration responsibility system, encourage and attract social capital investment in geological and environmental governance and restoration of historical mines, fully solve the geological and environmental problems of historical mines, and strive to completely implement geological and environmental governance of historical mines during the 13th Five-Year period. By 2020, Hainan plans to complete geological and environmental governance and restoration of 91 historical and closed mines and create a reclamation area of about 769 hectares from historical and closed mines.

Hainan will further improve basic geological work such as regional geology, hydrogeology, environmental geology and geological disaster prevention and control, expand service areas, strengthen the survey and assessment of public basic geological and mineral resource, and complete geological survey of 2,188 square kilometers of marine area (scale 1:50,000) and 80,900 square kilometers of marine area (scale 1:250,000) by 2020.