People’s Governments of All Banners, Counties, and Districts; Relevant Municipal Commissions, Offices, and Bureaus:
Chifeng City is the only prefecture-level city in China to have been awarded the title of “Hometown of China’s Non-Ferrous Metals.” As a pillar industry of our city, the mining sector plays a vital role in the city’s economic development.To implement the strategic requirements regarding energy and resource security outlined in the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, carry out the work arrangements of the Autonomous Region Party Committee and Government on revitalizing mining rights, fully leverage our city’s mineral resource advantages, achieve new breakthroughs in mineral exploration, enhance the level of mineral resource exploration, development, and comprehensive utilization, advance the modernization of mining governance capabilities, and promote the rapid rise of our city’s mining economy, the following opinions are put forward with the approval of the Municipal People’s Government and in accordance with our city’s actual conditions.
I. General Requirements
Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, we will fully implement the spirit of the 20th CPC National Congress, thoroughly implement Xi Jinping’s Thought on Ecological Civilization, and earnestly implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important speeches, instructions, and directives regarding Inner Mongolia. Focusing on Inner Mongolia’s strategic positioning as “two barriers,” “two bases,” andOne Bridgehead,” guided by the General Plan for Mineral Resources, leveraging the Geological Exploration Initiative as a key driver, and powered by reform and innovation. We will continuously optimize the layout of resource exploration and development, accelerate the transformation of resource utilization methods, comprehensively enhance the level of comprehensive resource development and utilization, advance the transformation, upgrading, and green development of the mining industry, transform our city’s resource advantages into economic advantages, and provide a strong guarantee for the high-quality economic development of the entire city.
II. Work Objectives
By 2025, we aim to achieve new breakthroughs in mineral exploration, ensure steady growth in reserves of key mineral resources, complete 500,000 linear meters of exploration drilling, and add over 200 million tons of non-ferrous metal ore reserves. New metal resource quantities will include:2 million tons of lead and zinc, 800,000 tons of lithium, 200,000 tons of copper, 10 tons of gold, and 2,000 tons of silver; the security system for strategic minerals such as iron, copper, tin, and gold will be further improved; and the level of geothermal resource exploration will be significantly enhanced;The spatial layout of exploration and development has become more rational, with the number of mines further reduced and the degree of scale significantly increased; the total number of mines will be reduced from the current 760 to within 680, and the proportion of large and medium-sized mines will reach 25%;The “three rates” (recovery, utilization, and recovery rate) for major mineral resources will be further improved, and green exploration and development will be fully implemented; tax and profit contributions by mining enterprises will double from the 2022 level of 2.9 billion yuan, reaching over 5.8 billion yuan by 2025; annual output value in the mining sector will exceed 200 billion yuan by 2025, up from 95.1 billion yuan in 2021.
III. Key Tasks
(1) Intensify exploration efforts to achieve new breakthroughs in mineral discovery.
1. Strengthen exploration of strategic minerals, advantageous minerals, and new energy minerals.In accordance with the Chifeng City Mineral Resources Master Plan, by 2025, exploration efforts for strategic minerals will be intensified in key mineralization belts such as the central-southern section of the Greater Khingan Range in the north and the northern margin of the North China Platform in the south. Coal exploration will be intensified in key areas of Keshenketeng Banner and Songshan District. Breakthroughs in mineral discovery will be achieved in the deep and peripheral areas of existing mines to ensure the stable growth of resource reserves.Projected new metal resource reserves: 2 million tons of lead-zinc, 800,000 tons of lithium, 200,000 tons of copper, 10 tons of gold, and 2,000 tons of silver. This will ensure the long-term sustainable supply of resources, support the construction of energy and resource bases, and provide resource guarantees for development and utilization. (Lead Agency: Municipal Bureau of Natural Resources; Cooperating Agencies: Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment, Municipal Bureau of Forestry and Grassland; Responsible Entities: People’s Governments of all flags, counties, and districts)
2. Actively seek funding from national and autonomous region exploration funds. Seize the opportunity presented by the new round of national and autonomous region strategic initiatives for mineral exploration breakthroughs to actively seek support from national and autonomous region authorities regarding investment in mineral resource exploration. First, facilitate the early release and implementation of exploration projects in our city that have already been included in the autonomous region’s geological exploration fund project repository;Second, promote the inclusion of more of our city’s exploration projects with promising prospects into the national and autonomous region geological exploration fund project databases, striving to achieve greater breakthroughs in mineral exploration and reserve expansion by 2025. (Lead Agency: Municipal Bureau of Natural Resources; Cooperating Agencies: Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment, Municipal Bureau of Forestry and Grassland; Responsible Agencies: People’s Governments of all flags, counties, and districts)
3. Intensify the exploration and development of geothermal resources. Fully leverage Chifeng’s geothermal resource advantages, encourage investment from all levels of government in geothermal resource exploration and development, promote the utilization of geothermal hot springs and shallow geothermal energy, and advance the development of new energy. (Lead Agency: Municipal Bureau of Natural Resources; Responsible Agencies: People’s Governments of all flags, counties, and districts; Chifeng Mining Group)
4. Intensify the issuance of prospecting rights and support and encourage investment in commercial exploration. It is projected that during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, 67 new prospecting rights will be established across 4 energy resource bases, 10 nationally planned mining areas, and 14 key exploration zones, covering an additional exploration area of approximately 1,000 square kilometers.Strengthen deep resource exploration at existing large and medium-sized mines. It is projected that 100 new deep exploration mining rights will be established, adding approximately 150 square kilometers of deep exploration area. (Responsible Unit: Municipal Bureau of Natural Resources)
(2) Comprehensively enhance the production capacity of operational mines.
5. The people’s governments of all flags, counties, and districts shall conduct in-depth research at mining enterprises, hold symposiums with mining enterprises to understand the difficulties they encounter in production, compile a registry of these issues, and report it to relevant municipal departments. These departments shall study and resolve the issues to further enhance mining production capacity.
(Lead Units: People’s Governments of all flags, counties, and districts; Cooperating Units: Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, Bureau of Natural Resources, Bureau of Ecology and Environment, Emergency Management Bureau, Bureau of Forestry and Grassland;
Responsible Units: People’s Governments of all flags, counties, and districts)
6. Encourage and support mining enterprises in extending, supplementing, and strengthening their industrial chains. Promote the development of extended industrial chains among mining enterprises, enhance the capacity for deep processing of mineral products, and, building on the existing industrial foundation, effectively extend industrial and value chains. This will facilitate the on-site and nearby deep processing and comprehensive utilization of mineral resources, accelerate development toward high-end, precision, and cutting-edge sectors, continuously increase product value-added, and boost the total industrial output value of the mining sector.
(Responsible Units: People’s Governments of all flags, counties, and districts)
(3) Intensify efforts to resume operations at suspended mines.
7. The people’s governments of all flags, counties, and districts shall conduct comprehensive investigations into the causes of mine suspensions through in-depth research and symposiums, establish work ledgers, and supervise and assist enterprises in completing relevant procedures to expedite infrastructure construction, technological upgrades, rectification and remediation, consolidation, enforcement of court judgments, and fulfillment of relevant obligations; The Municipal Development and Reform Commission shall expedite the processing of mine project approval procedures; the Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau shall expedite the processing of environmental impact assessment procedures;the Municipal Emergency Management Bureau shall expedite the processing of work safety permits; the Municipal Natural Resources Bureau shall expedite the processing of land use procedures; and the Municipal Forestry and Grassland Bureau shall expedite the processing of forest and grassland use procedures. (Lead Units: People’s Governments of all flags, counties, and districts; Cooperating Units: Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, Natural Resources Bureau, Ecology and Environment Bureau, Emergency Management Bureau, Forestry and Grassland Bureau)
8. For mining rights for which renewal applications have been submitted, the Municipal Bureau of Natural Resources shall urge the mining right holders to supplement the materials within the prescribed time limit; for those with complete and compliant materials, renewal procedures shall be processed immediately. Where the requirements for resource and environmental carrying capacity are not met, the People’s Governments of the flags, counties, and districts shall announce the cancellation.(Lead Agency: Municipal Bureau of Natural Resources; Cooperating Agencies: Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Bureau of Ecology and Environment, Bureau of Transportation, Bureau of Water Resources, Bureau of Culture and Tourism, Bureau of Forestry and Grassland; Responsible Agencies: People’s Governments of all flags, counties, and districts)
9. For prospecting rights that meet the requirements for conversion to mining rights, resolve any obstacles encountered in processing the procedures for establishing new mining rights. The Municipal Development and Reform Commission shall expedite the processing of mine project approval procedures; the Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau shall expedite the processing of environmental impact assessment procedures; the Municipal Emergency Management Bureau shall expedite the processing of work safety permits; the Municipal Natural Resources Bureau shall expedite the processing of land use procedures; and the Municipal Forestry and Grassland Bureau shall expedite the processing of forest and grassland use procedures.The People’s Governments of each flag, county, and district shall compile a record of issues encountered by each enterprise holding a newly established mining right, submit it to the relevant municipal departments, and propose solutions. (Lead Units: People’s Governments of each flag, county, and district; Cooperating Units: Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Natural Resources Bureau, Ecology and Environment Bureau, Emergency Management Bureau, Forestry and Grassland Bureau)
(4) Promote large-scale and intensive mining of mineral resources.
10. Focusing on adjusting the scale and structure of mines, we will carry out consolidation efforts to support mining enterprises in expanding and strengthening their operations. Following the principles of major mines consolidating surrounding mines and large mining enterprises consolidating small mines, we encourage large mines to adopt methods such as mergers and acquisitions or equity investments to consolidate small mines, areas with a high concentration of small mines, and mining zones where large mines operate on a small scale that hinder unified planning and extraction.Centering on the four key energy and resource bases and the ten nationally planned mining areas, our city has preliminarily demarcated 28 consolidation zones spanning nine banners, counties, and districts. These zones cover approximately 665 square kilometers and involve mineral types such as coal, gold, copper, silver, lead, zinc, fluorite, and limestone.During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, we will prioritize the integration of 17 zones. Of these, six zones were completed in 2022, and we aim to complete the integration of three more zones in 2023. (Responsible Units: People’s Governments of relevant flags, counties, and districts)
11. Further advance the integration of mineral resources. In addition to the 28 integration zones preliminarily delineated by our city, the people’s governments of each flag, county, and district shall continue to demarcate new integration zones in accordance with the requirements of green mining development and resource and environmental carrying capacity, based on the current status of mineral resource development in their respective regions. They shall compile integration ledgers, formulate integration plans, and further advance the integration work. (Responsible units: People’s governments of each flag, county, and district)
12. Intensify exploration efforts in the blank zones surrounding consolidated mining rights. Increase the establishment of mining rights in the blank zones between consolidated mining rights to lay the foundation for integrated exploration and development. Compile a ledger of issues encountered during consolidation, submit it to relevant municipal departments, and propose solutions.(Lead Agency: Municipal Bureau of Natural Resources; Cooperating Agencies: Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment, Municipal Bureau of Transportation, Municipal Bureau of Water Resources, Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, Municipal Bureau of Forestry and Grassland; Responsible Units: People’s Governments of relevant flags, counties, and districts)
13. Shut down mines in accordance with laws and regulations. The governments of each flag, county, and district are the responsible entities for mine closures and are specifically tasked with carrying out mine closure operations. Licensed mines with unreasonable mining rights arrangements, those that do not meet resource and environmental carrying capacity requirements, those lacking safe production conditions, and those with remaining resource reserves insufficient to meet technical renovation and capacity expansion requirements shall be closed and phased out in an orderly manner in accordance with laws and regulations. This will promote the coordinated development of mineral resource exploitation and utilization with mine geological and environmental protection, and actively guide mining enterprises toward green transformation.(Responsible Entities: People’s Governments of all flags, counties, and districts)
14. Strictly and severely investigate and punish illegal and non-compliant mining operations. Strictly crack down, in accordance with laws and regulations, on all types of illegal and non-compliant activities, including unlicensed mining, mining beyond authorized boundaries or depths, mining that does not follow approved development and utilization plans, and illegal mining conducted under the guise of mine geological environment restoration and remediation, mine safety hazard remediation, coalfield fire extinguishing, or land development and consolidation, to standardize the order of mineral resource development.(Lead Agency: Municipal Bureau of Natural Resources; Cooperating Agencies: Municipal Public Security Bureau, Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment, Municipal Emergency Management Bureau, Municipal Bureau of Forestry and Grassland)
(V) Actively promote the development of green mining and strengthen the management and ecological restoration of the geological environment of mines.
15. Advance the creation of green mines. Continue to develop the Northern Chifeng Green Mining Development Demonstration Zone, using exemplary cases of green mine construction as models to guide and promote green mine development across the city. Implement dynamic management of green mines and strictly enforce green mine construction standards; all newly established mines must meet these standards. Operating mines must accelerate their transformation and upgrading in accordance with green mine construction standards to meet the requirements as soon as possible, thereby fostering a new landscape where the entire society jointly advances green mine development.(Lead Agency: Municipal Bureau of Natural Resources; Cooperating Agencies: Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment, Municipal Bureau of Forestry and Grassland; Responsible Entities: People’s Governments of all flags, counties, and districts)
16. Strictly implement the accountability mechanism for mine geological environment remediation and ecological restoration, enforce the Mine Geological Environment Remediation and Restoration Fund system, and urge mines to adhere to the principle of “remediation during production, with all eligible areas remediated.” Strengthen oversight of mine geological environment restoration and remediation through “double-random, public disclosure” inspections. Guide closed mines to comprehensively carry out mine geological environment remediation and land reclamation work.(Lead Agency: Municipal Bureau of Natural Resources; Cooperating Agencies: Municipal Bureau of Finance, Bureau of Ecology and Environment, Bureau of Forestry and Grassland; Responsible Entities: People’s Governments of all flags, counties, and districts)
(6) Strengthen support for mining enterprises involved in strategic minerals, Chifeng’s advantageous minerals, and clean, high-efficiency energy minerals.
17. Prioritize the processing of procedures for converting exploration to production and the development and construction of the following projects: the Velasto lithium mine in Keshenketeng Banner; the tungsten mine in the Baituyingzi mining area of Aohan Banner; the molybdenum mine in the Shangdajing mining section of Laojiagou in Arhorchin Banner; and the lead-zinc mines in Bajia and Songjiawanzi of Aohan Banner.(Lead Agency: Municipal Bureau of Natural Resources; Cooperating Agencies: Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, Bureau of Ecology and Environment, Emergency Management Bureau, Bureau of Forestry and Grassland)
18. Advance the following projects: Yubang Mining Company’s Shuangjianshan Silver Mine Reserve Expansion and Capacity Increase Project in Barin Left Banner; Chifeng Aolunhua Mining Co., Ltd.’s Technical Renovation and Expansion Project for the Annual Mining and Beneficiation of 4.95 Million Tons of Copper-Molybdenum Ore; Chifeng Chaihulanzi Gold Mining Co., Ltd.’s Expansion Project for the Annual Mining and Beneficiation of 270,000 Tons of Gold Ore;the Chifeng Huatai Mining Co., Ltd. Lianhuashan Mining Area, Section 5, Rock Gold Mine Annual 30,000-ton Mining and Beneficiation Expansion Project; the Balin Left Banner Hongling Lead-Zinc Mine Annual 660,000-ton Mining and Beneficiation Expansion Project; and the Chifeng Jilong Mining Co., Ltd. Zhuanshanzi Gold Mine Annual 180,000-ton Gold Ore Beneficiation Expansion Project.(Lead Units: People’s Governments of all flags, counties, and districts; Cooperating Departments: Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, Bureau of Natural Resources, Bureau of Ecology and Environment, Emergency Management Bureau, Bureau of Forestry and Grassland)
19. Promote the resumption of work and production for 12 key projects, including the 250,000-ton-per-year mining and beneficiation project at the Bayan Ula Silver-Polymetallic Mine operated by Chifeng Keshenketeng Banner Dongsheng Mining Co., Ltd. (Lead Agency: Municipal Bureau of Natural Resources; Cooperating Agencies: Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, Bureau of Ecology and Environment, Emergency Management Bureau, Bureau of Forestry and Grassland; Responsible Units: People’s Governments of all flags, counties, and districts)
(7) Establish a special fund to intensify efforts in attracting investment.
20. The people’s governments of all flags, counties, and districts shall, through various means such as research and symposiums, conduct a comprehensive review of the city’s existing 453 exploration rights (including 63 that meet the requirements for conversion to mining rights) andand 471 suspended mining rights. For mines characterized by outdated extraction methods and technical equipment, low resource utilization rates, production scales that have long failed to meet design requirements, poor management standards, and inadequate social and environmental benefits—as well as those requiring restructuring or facing prolonged suspension due to broken capital chains—encourage the signing of preliminary investment agreements with flag, county, and district governments and establish a registry.The Municipal Bureau of Regional Economic Cooperation will conduct targeted investment promotion based on the specific conditions of mining enterprises, attracting large, financially strong mining groups to carry out mergers and reorganizations of mining enterprises and participate in resource development. (Responsible Units: Municipal Bureau of Regional Economic Cooperation; People’s Governments of all flags, counties, and districts)
21. Support the Municipal Mining Group and state-owned mining companies at the banner, county, and district levels in acquiring high-quality mining rights, and actively participate in the market-based transfer of newly established mining rights. With the Chifeng Municipal Mining Group and state-owned mining companies at the banner, county, and district levels as the main entities, actively align with state-owned mining companies at the autonomous region level to jointly develop mining rights with favorable resource conditions and clear ownership, thereby accelerating the transformation and high-quality development of the mining economy. (Responsible Units: People’s Governments of all banners, counties, and districts)
22. Guide and facilitate the lawful and orderly entry of private capital into investment sectors such as mineral exploration and mining. Jointly invest with state-owned mining companies to establish specialized mineral resource investment funds focused on mineral exploration, mining, mineral processing, and mineral smelting.
(Lead Units: Municipal State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, Financial Work Office; Cooperating Units: Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Industry and Information Technology Bureau, Commerce Bureau, Chifeng Mining Group; Responsible Units: People’s Governments of all flags, counties, and districts)
(8) Leveraging our reputation as the “Home of Non-Ferrous Metals,” organize a mining industry economic symposium to promote the city’s mineral resource advantages and advance the efficient utilization of mineral resources.
23. Based on the actual conditions of our city, the people’s governments of each flag, county, and district shall conduct a case-by-case review of mining enterprises to identify the problems and difficulties they face in exploration and mining,conduct a comprehensive analysis of the region’s challenges in mining development as well as its future direction and positioning; organize mining economic seminars to attract investment, conduct research and exchange views on measures for high-quality development of the city’s mining economy, introduce key prospecting target areas and mineral resource concentration zones, promote the city’s mineral resource advantages, and secure more effective investment.(Lead Agencies: Municipal Bureau of Natural Resources, Bureau of Regional Economic Cooperation; Cooperating Agencies: Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, Bureau of Commerce, Bureau of Forestry and Grassland; Responsible Units: People’s Governments of all flags, counties, and districts)
24. Organize a symposium on the efficient development and utilization of mineral resources to exchange and discuss advanced national technologies in areas such as upgrading mining technology and equipment, increasing investment in science and technology, improving the “three rates” (recovery, utilization, and recovery rate) for the development and utilization of key resources such as lithium, tin, silver, lead, and zinc, comprehensive utilization of ore, and the construction of green mines.Engage a team of high-level experts to assess the current state of the city’s mining sector, identify key mineral resources and industrial planning, and draw upon advanced domestic and international technologies and proven practices to chart a course for high-quality mining development. Accelerate the formation of an industrial structure characterized by advanced technology, a long industrial chain, diverse products, and high value-added output. Promote the application of big data, artificial intelligence, and the industrial internet in the mining sector to enhance the automation, intelligence, and informatization levels of mining enterprises.(Lead Agencies: Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, Municipal Bureau of Natural Resources; Cooperating Agencies: Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Municipal Science and Technology Bureau; Responsible Entities: People’s Governments of all flags, counties, and districts)
IV. Support Measures
(1) Strengthen Organizational Leadership. Establish the Chifeng City Working Group for Promoting High-Quality Development of the Mining Economy, with the Mayor serving as the Group Leader and the Vice Mayor in charge of the sector serving as the Deputy Group Leader.All relevant municipal departments and the governments of all flags, counties, and districts shall strengthen organizational leadership over the high-quality development of the mining economy, fully recognize the importance of mining development, and effectively carry out investigations, issue-tracking, and problem-solving. Principal responsible officials must personally take charge, get hands-on, and coordinate efforts, assigning personnel, tasks, and deadlines to ensure that the requirements for high-quality mining development and the generation of actual productive capacity are fully implemented.
(2) Strengthen Policy and Financial Support. Provide financial support for mine ecological restoration, green exploration and mining, and comprehensive recycling. Implement tax reduction and exemption policies for the extraction of associated ores, low-grade ores, and tailings.Funds for green mine management shall be included in the fiscal budgets of all flags, counties, and districts. For green mines that achieve significant results, the governments of flags, counties, and districts shall provide financial rewards on a merit-based basis. Financial institutions shall be encouraged to increase support for mining enterprises, and government-backed financing guarantee institutions shall be guided to support the financing needs of mining enterprises.
(3) Clarify Responsibilities. In accordance with the requirements of this opinion, the governments of all flags, counties, and districts shall, by March 1, 2023, propose implementation measures for a “one mine, one policy” approach for all mining enterprises within their jurisdictions and establish a registry.For matters in these measures that require handling by municipal-level departments, the governments of each flag, county, and district shall categorize and report them to the relevant municipal departments by March 1, 2023. Municipal departments shall formulate implementation measures by March 15, 2023. After these measures are approved by the municipal government, the governments of each flag, county, and district shall, by April 1, 2023, develop local plans for promoting high-quality mining development in conjunction with the municipal departments’ measures.All flags, counties, and districts, as well as relevant municipal departments, must fulfill their assigned responsibilities, take proactive action, strengthen coordination, and handle matters in accordance with laws and regulations on a case-by-case basis, processing each case as it becomes ready. In particular, they must support state-owned enterprises such as Chifeng Mining Group and Inner Mongolia Pingzhuang Coal Industry Group in expediting the processing of relevant procedures to ensure that a batch of mining rights is revitalized and converted into actual productive capacity by the end of May 2023.
(4) Strengthen Coordination and Monitoring. The governments of all flags, counties, and districts must continuously compile and update real-time information on the resumption of operations at suspended mines and the conversion of exploration rights to mining rights, and regularly report progress to the Office of the Work Promotion Group and relevant municipal departments. Municipal departments must accelerate implementation in accordance with measures approved by the municipal government, innovate service models, implement “point-to-point” targeted tracking services, attend joint meetings on schedule, and effectively resolve issues encountered during implementation.
