China said Wednesday it had found a new iron ore deposit in north-eastern Liaoning province that state media has described as the largest in Asia. "We did find an iron ore deposit there," an official with the land and resources ministry, who declined to be named, told AFP.
He refused to give further details, but the official China News Service said Tuesday that an iron ore deposit with an estimated reserve of more than three billion tonnes was discovered in the region. The report said the reserve, near the city of Benxi, was the largest in Asia and could prove to be twice as big as currently thought as exploration work progresses.
China relies on imports for half for its iron ore consumption and the massive demand has been a prime driver of price rises in the past few years. The latest discovery could give Chinese mills more leverage in this year's iron ore price talks with major mining firms. It also helped fuel a rise in Chinese share prices on Wednesday that was led by steel makers, dealers said.