Recently, the Ministry of Natural Resources released the results of a verification project on antimony resources in the Yindongliang mining section of Washigou, Dangchang County, Gansu Province, adding 51,455 tons of resources. The cumulative proven resources in the mining area increased by 52%, and the deposit size was upgraded from medium to large, marking significant progress in antimony resource exploration in the western Qinling Mountains of Gansu.
The Washigou antimony deposit is located in the Luqu-Dangchang-Liangdang mercury-antimony-gold metallogenic belt of the western Qinling Mountains and is one of the representative deposits in this belt. In 1980, the First Geological Team of the Gansu Provincial Bureau of Geology conducted a geological survey of the Yindongliang No. 9 antimony deposit in the verification area, roughly identifying the characteristics of the ore body and providing a basis for further geological work in the area. Exploration work in the area made phased progress in 2012 and 2016. In June 2021, Gansu Sanchang Mining acquired the mining rights for antimony polymetallic deposits in the Washigou area of Dangchang County, Gansu Province. In March 2023, it commissioned the First Geological and Mineral Exploration Institute of Gansu Provincial Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources Exploration and Development (hereinafter referred to as "Gansu Provincial Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources First Exploration Institute") to carry out resource reserve verification work.
During the two-and-a-half-year exploration process, the technical team of the First Exploration Institute of Gansu Provincial Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources fully leveraged its professional expertise, scientifically formulated exploration plans, and conducted a total of 6,380 meters of surface drilling, 310 cubic meters of trenching, 1,381 meters of pit logging, and 6,158 meters of tunnel surveying. This established a comprehensive, multi-layered exploration system. The submitted "Verification Report on Antimony Resource Reserves in the Yindongliang Mining Section of Washigou Area, Dangchang County, Gansu Province" passed the review and filing of the Ministry of Natural Resources. As of August 31, 2025, the Washigou mining area had a cumulative proven ore reserve of 3.0633 million tons and an antimony metal content of 149,732 tons.
Antimony, as a key strategic mineral resource, is widely used in important fields such as flame-retardant materials, photovoltaic glass, lead-acid batteries, special alloys, and military semiconductors due to its unique physicochemical properties. It has been listed as a strategic mineral by many countries, including China and the United States, and global resource supply has long been in a state of scarcity.
This achievement is a vivid example of Gansu's in-depth implementation of the new round of strategic action for mineral exploration breakthroughs. It not only clarifies the scale of usable resources in the mining area and consolidates the national strategic reserve of antimony resources, but also provides replicable and scalable experience for the study of metallogenic regularity in the western Qinling Mountains and mineral exploration in the deep and peripheral areas of mines. It is of great significance for accelerating the construction of the western Qinling antimony resource industrial base, helping Gansu's high-quality economic and social development, and ensuring national energy and resource security.