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Dannie Peng

Chinese scientists say they have discovered a massive underwater mineral deposit in the western Pacific that is remarkably rich in gold and silver.
According to a report by state broadcaster CCTV on Friday, the discovery was made during a joint scientific expedition involving several Chinese academic institutions.
The ores within this seabed hydrothermal field – an area where hot, mineral-rich water shoots out from openings on the ocean floor – are exceptionally rich in precious metals. Silver, in particular, reaches more than 1kg (2.2lbs) per tonne of ore at its highest grade, while the average metal content exceeds that of typical terrestrial deposits.
“The [large seabed mining area] has extremely high exploitation value,” said Song Shiji, vice-dean of the Institute for Ocean Engineering at Tsinghua University and one of the lead scientists on the project.
The survey team also included researchers from the Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology and Shanghai Jiao Tong University. The expedition set sail from Shenzhen on August 10 aboard the Xiang Yang Hong 10, one of China’s first domestically designed and built giant oceanographic research vessels.
The precious metals were discovered in a sprawling, high-temperature hydrothermal field, concentrated in what are known as “hydrothermal sulphide” ores.
These multi‑metal deposits form when super‑hot, metal‑rich water jets out of the seabed and hits near‑freezing seawater. The sudden cooling makes the metals bind with sulphur and drop out as solid sulphide minerals – mostly copper, zinc and lead, but often with some gold and silver as well.
The 18-day expedition featured seven deep-submergence dives. State media reported that the deposit was located in a “back-arc basin in the western Pacific” within China’s exclusive economic zone, though precise coordinates were not disclosed.

According to the Shipxy marine tracking platform, the vessel sailed through waters north and east of Taiwan and north of the Philippines.
Hydrothermal fields cover much of the western Pacific, extending from the Kuril Islands north of Japan to waters northeast of New Zealand, according to a 2016 paper published in the Journal of Jilin University by marine scientists in east China’s Qingdao.
Before the expedition, the team conducted more than a dozen preliminary surveys in the area. CCTV reported that these earlier missions identified dozens of high-temperature hydrothermal vents at depths of 700 to 1,500 metres (2,300 to 4,920 feet), with fluid temperatures exceeding 315 degrees Celsius (599 degrees Fahrenheit).
Building upon this earlier work, the team pinpointed a “new and very large” hydrothermal mining area within the basin. The associated deposit consists of three massive, cone-shaped sulphide mounds.
Preliminary laboratory analyses indicate that the ore body is mostly composed of economically important minerals such as chalcopyrite, pyrite and sphalerite.
The average gold and silver concentrations were significantly higher than those of land-based deposits, CCTV reported. Gold grades reach up to 15.4 grams (about 0.5 troy ounces) per tonne of ore, while silver peaks at 1.27kg per tonne of ore.
Song also noted that the active field harboured unique biological communities adapted to deep-sea conditions, providing scientific insight into how life sustains itself in extreme environments.


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Chinese scientists find ‘extremely high-value’ underwater gold mine in Pacific

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China

Survey team says the ores, formed when super-hot water shoots from the seabed, are richer in gold and silver than those found on land


Survey team says the ores, formed when super-hot water shoots from the seabed, are richer in gold and silver than those found on land.


Tsinghua University

Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Chinese scientists find ‘extremely high-value’ underwater gold mine in Pacific

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Survey team says the ores, formed when super-hot water shoots from the seabed, are richer in gold and silver than those found on land

Survey team says the ores, formed when super-hot water shoots from the seabed, are richer in gold and silver than those found on land