An open-pit copper mining area in Dexing, East China's Jiangxi Province on August 7, 2024 Photo: VCG

China's Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) has published an updated list of advanced mining technologies, with a significant rise in newly added technologies, according to a notice on Tuesday.

The ministry recently released the catalog of advanced and applicable technologies for mineral resource conservation and comprehensive utilization (2025 Edition), and a total of 376 technologies were selected, including 186 newly added entries. That was a significant update compared with the 2022 Edition, according to the notice on the official WeChat account of the MNR.

Compared with the 317 technologies released in 2022, the total number of listed mining technologies increased by more than 18 percent, with an update rate of nearly 60 percent, the MNR said.

The catalog, which has been updated every three years since 2019, includes 376 advanced and applicable technologies that were selected after a process of application, recommendation, evaluation and public consultation. A total of 190 technologies were re-selected from the previous 2022 edition and 186 were newly added.

The catalog covers 49 integrated exploration technologies, 94 efficient mining technologies, 65 efficient mineral processing technologies, 75 comprehensive utilization technologies, 39 green and low-carbon technologies, and 54 digital and intelligent technologies, according to the notice.

Relying on constant improvements in technology has been an important factor in China's drive to tap mineral resources and conserve the environment amid rising global attention on mining resources, according to a Chinese analyst.

"The mining sector is an important area in implementing the green and digital transition, and applying new technologies has helped mining companies to find more resources," Wang Guoqing, research director at the Beijing Lange Steel Information Research Center, told the Global Times on Tuesday. "More importantly, the application of newer technologies has ensured that the environment is not put in harm's way."

Wang noted that as China pushes forward the application of green and digital technologies in more sectors, upstream sectors such as mining will see more changes in terms of environmental friendliness and efficiency.

An assessment by the MNR on the promotion and application of the 2022 Edition technologies showed that 44 exploration technologies were applied to 1,119 exploration projects, contributing to the discovery of 780 million tons of oil, 580 million cubic meters of natural gas, 170 million tons of iron ore, 87 million tons of trona, and 316 tons of gold.

In addition, after the application of 251 mining, processing, and comprehensive utilization technologies in mining enterprises, the average mining recovery rate and mineral processing recovery rate both increased by 9 percentage points, and the comprehensive utilization rate of associated and paragenic minerals increased by 15 percentage points.

This effort helped utilize 2.1 billion tons of solid minerals, 260 million tons of oil and 12.6 billion cubic meters of natural gas, the MNR said.