Beijing: While the United States is busy searching for rare minerals hidden in Ukraine, China has claimed a discovery that is no less than a treasure.

Chinese geologists say they have discovered large reserves of a radioactive element called thorium in the Bayan-Ubo mining area of ​​Inner Mongolia. According to a report by the South China Morning Post, this resource can meet China's energy needs for the next 60,000 years. Thorium is a shiny silver metal, which is capable of producing 200 times more energy than uranium. Thorium can be used in molten salt reactors, which are a modern type of nuclear power plant.

Scientists estimate that one million tons of thorium can be extracted from the Bayan-Ubo mining area. According to an undisclosed report, the huge deposit was confirmed in a survey conducted in 2020. China is already believed to have the largest reserves of thorium, and now the discovery could further strengthen its energy security. Researchers claim that China's mining waste contains enough thorium that, if properly utilized, the world's dependence on fossil fuels could be completely eliminated.

Waste discharged from an iron ore site in Inner Mongolia over the past five years contains enough thorium to meet the energy needs of the United States for 1,000 years. The report comes at a time when China, Russia and the United States are busy expanding nuclear technology and making nuclear energy the energy source of the future. 233 thorium-rich sites have been identified across the country, indicating that China's thorium reserves may be much higher than previously estimated. Uranium-232 is used in conventional nuclear reactors, while thorium is 500 times more abundant.

Nuclear reactors generate energy by fusing radioactive elements. This process breaks the element into smaller, more stable particles and produces heat, which is used to drive steam turbines. Although thorium itself is not fissile, it can be converted into uranium-233, which is ideal for energy production. China is already in the process of building the world's first thorium molten salt nuclear power station, which is expected to be ready by 2029. The project could bring about a major change in the world's energy system and put China ahead of the United States and other Western countries in the field of energy production.