The Ministry of Land and Resources ''Deep Earth Exploration'' Program Is Progressing Steadily

As one of the Ministry of Land and Resources' "Three Deeps and One Soil" strategy, the deep earth exploration program is progressing steadily. Gao Ping, Deputy Director of the Department of Science and Technology and International Cooperation of the Ministry of Land and Resources, told reporters on May 3 that, in order to implement General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instruction to "advance into the depths of the earth," the Ministry of Land and Resources, together with the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Education, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, provincial earthquake bureaus, and other relevant departments, has improved the strategic layout, refined task objectives, and implemented research projects to jointly promote the implementation of the deep earth exploration science and technology innovation strategy.

Gao Ping stated that the strategic layout for deep earth exploration science and technology innovation has been basically formed. First, deep earth exploration has been included in the "13th Five-Year Plan for National Science and Technology Innovation" as a major science and technology project aimed at 2030. The upcoming "13th Five-Year Plan for Science and Technology Innovation in the Resources Sector" further clarifies the specific goals and key tasks of deep earth exploration. Second, the "13th Five-Year Plan for the Development of Science and Technology Innovation in Land and Resources" and the "Opinions of the Ministry of Land and Resources on Accelerating the Promotion of Science and Technology Innovation" have been issued and implemented, further highlighting the close connection between science and technology innovation and the "13th Five-Year Plan" for the development and reform of the land and resources industry.

It is reported that a consensus has been basically reached on the scientific and technological innovation goals for deep earth exploration. To actively promote the feasibility study and approval of major scientific and technological projects for deep Earth exploration, Minister Jiang Daming of the Ministry of Land and Resources personally led a coordination mechanism for deep Earth exploration research, in conjunction with the Ministry of Education, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the China Earthquake Administration. A chief expert group and an expert advisory committee were also established.

Gao Ping stated that under the leadership of this coordination mechanism, the Ministry of Land and Resources organized over 300 experts from 53 institutions nationwide across various fields. Based on specialized research, and after more than 30 discussions, consultations, and demonstrations of varying scales, the Ministry completed the "Proposal for Major Scientific and Technological Projects for Deep Earth Exploration." This proposal established the overall goal of "seeing through the Earth, exploring resources, and expanding space," and outlined eight major tasks: underground space exploration and safe utilization, deep aquifer structure exploration, deep mineral resource exploration and mining, deep oil and gas exploration and mining, geothermal resource exploration and geothermal energy utilization, deep underground observation and crustal activity monitoring, cutting-edge technologies and equipment for deep exploration, and deep exploration and deep processes.

Gao Ping explained that the expert advisory committee, headed by Academicians Sun Shu and Li Tingdong, has unanimously approved the proposal and suggested that its implementation should be initiated as soon as possible. Thus, the scientific community has reached a basic consensus on launching a major scientific and technological project for deep earth exploration.

Gao Ping stated that the innovative research mission for deep earth exploration has already begun. The "Deep Earth Resource Exploration and Mining" key project has been launched under the National Key Research and Development Program, aiming to construct a new mining space of 1500 meters, advance to a new exploration depth of 2000-3000 meters, open up a "new continent" for mineral exploration in covered areas, expand into new fields of oil and gas at depths of 10,000 meters, and support the strategic action for breakthroughs in mineral exploration. Currently, the first batch of 11 projects has been launched, and the second batch of projects is in the process of project approval and review.

Gao Ping stated that to further strengthen the top-level design and deployment of the "Three Deeps and One Soil" scientific and technological innovation strategy, the Ministry of Land and Resources and the Ministry of Science and Technology have signed the "Cooperation Agreement on Scientific and Technological Investment Collaboration Mechanism." Under this framework, the Ministry of Land and Resources is working with the Ministry of Science and Technology to jointly study and explore the establishment of a collaborative promotion mechanism between deep earth exploration scientific and technological innovation and national geological survey projects. For example, opening up geological survey engineering deployments and the latest geological survey data to scientific research project teams can promote joint research and development and coordinated deployment in innovative research and development areas and pilot demonstration areas, enabling the full sharing and utilization of limited resources, facilitating the timely verification and improvement of research results, realizing the direct transformation of scientific research results, and accelerating the national geological survey project to achieve a major breakthrough in deep resource exploration.