A geological and mineral map on the entire nation’s territory has been made at the ratio of 1:200,000, making Vietnam among leaders in Southeast Asia in geological and mineral surveys.

A geological and mineral map on the entire nation’s territory has been made at the ratio of 1:200,000 and issued for mass-production, making Vietnam among leaders in Southeast Asia in geological and mineral surveys.

Dr. Nguyen Van Thuan, Head of the Vietnam Geological and Mineral Department, released the information at a symposium in Hanoi on Friday in the presence of a number of domestic and international managers and scientists.

Other Vietnam’s achievements included a geological and mineral map of 56.8 percent of the land territory at the ratio of 1:50,000.

The map lays a basic foundation for the planning of other socio-economic sectors, Thuan said.

Most of the nation’s geological layers have been surveyed, leading to the discovery of over 40 sorts of mineral and over 5,000 ore fields and potential mineral sites.

In regards to the national waters, a map on coastal geology and minerals (between 0 and 30 m deep) has been finalized at the ratios of 1:500,000 and 1:100,000-1:50,000 in several key sites. Surveys are continuing at seabed about 100 m deep.

As a result, geologists have managed to set up a system of accredited maps on geological structures, Quaternary sediments, mineral sand potential and the tropical coastal environment.

Surveys have led to the discovery and successful exploration of oil and gas fields in the northern plain and the Tonkin Gulf, and forecast on the oil and gas potential of major sediment reservoirs under the Red River, Mekong River and Nam Con Son.

Geologists have also managed to estimate the nation’s coal deposits at 10 billion tons.

Credited mineral surveys and evaluations have provided solid ground for industrial managers to establish mining and mineral processing groups across the country such as the northern mountainous provinces of Thai Nguyen, Lao Cai and Cao Bang, the central province of Ha Tinh, the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong and the southern province of Binh Phuoc.

Geological surveys have discovered that local reserves of a number of minerals such as gas, brown coal, bauxite, rare earth, white marble, titanium-zircon and material for cement production can meet demand for domestic consumption and export for the next decades.

The Vietnam Geological and Mineral Department has been conducting a number of major surveys and evaluations on key minerals. They include a project on titan-zircon within the red sand layer in the central provinces of Binh Thuan and Ninh Thuan and the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau.

Exploration of uranium ores in the central province of Quang Nam and surveys and general evaluation of deposits of coal in the Red River and bauxite and iron in southern Vietnam are underway.

Source: VNA