The massive land resources survey started in 1999 has discovered 16 rich mines along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway.Chinanews, Beijing, January 26 – The massive land resources survey started in 1999 has discovered 16 rich mines along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway.“These mines, plus those found in Xinjiang, Yunnan and Guangdong, will be important support to the new nonferrous metal bases, and will ease the great demand for mineral resources, ” said Meng Xianlai, the director of China Geological Survey.Now, five nonferrous metal mine lots have been formed along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway. It is estimated that the copper reserves in the mine lot is some 20 million tons and that of lead and zinc is 10 million tons respectively. At present, 7.98 million tons of copper reserve have been proved in a copper mine in Maizho, making it the second largest of its kind in China.