According to the Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources in China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, 300 million mt of proven iron ore resources have been discovered recently in the Yelike iron ore region of Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County, Xinjiang, China, with estimated prospective resources of over 1.5 billion mt of iron ore.
The new iron ore resources will help boost Xinjiang's importance as a region for the production of iron ore and will support the industrialization of the region. In previous explorations, the Awulale area in Western Tianshan in Xinjaing was estimated to contain prospective iron ore resources of over 2 billion mt.