China has discovered an ‘endless’ energy source that could supply enough fuel to power the country for 60,000 years, geologists in Beijing have claimed.
The Bayan Obo mining complex in Inner Mongolia, an autonomous region of northern China, could contain enough thorium to supply China’s household energy demands ‘almost forever’, a national survey reportedly found.
This slightly radioactive element can be used to create a type of nuclear power station called a molten-salt reactor which could provide enormous quantities of energy.
Scientists estimate the mining complex could yield 1 million tonnes of thorium if fully exploited, according to The South China Post, which obtained a declassified report of the survey.
The study has claimed that thorium resources in the country’s mining waste ‘remain totally untouched’ and if properly extracted could be large enough to end the worldwide dependence on fossil fuels.
Researchers further allege that five years’ worth of mining waste from an iron ore site in Inner Mongolia contains enough thorium to meet American energy demands for over 1,000 years.
The report comes as China, Russia and the US race to expand their nuclear technologies and make nuclear energy a key power source. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump is set today to sign a deal with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that would allow America to mine Ukraine’s rare earth reserves.
The Bayan Obo mining complex in Inner Mongolia, an autonomous region of northern China, could contain enough thorium to supply China’s household energy demands ‘almost forever’, a national survey reportedly found
The study identified 233 thorium-rich zones across the country and, if accurate, suggests that thorium reserves in China significantly exceed previous estimates. China last year approved construction of the world’s first-ever thorium molten-salt reactors (TMSR) plant in the Gobi Desert. Pictured: Chinese President Xi Jinping on February 5, 2025
The study identified 233 thorium-rich zones across the country and, if accurate, suggests that thorium reserves in China significantly exceed previous estimates.
Estimated to be 500 times more abundant than the uranium-232 used in conventional nuclear reactors, thorium has been hailed as a potential solution to the demand for nuclear power.
Nuclear reactors create energy by forcing radioactive elements to undergo a process called fission.
During this process, the element breaks down into smaller, more stable elements and releases heat which can be used to drive steam turbines.
Thorium on its own is not fissile, meaning it cannot be used for fission, but it can provide the basis for a fission reaction.
This is because thorium is ‘fertile’, meaning it can transmute into uranium-233 (U-233) when bombarded with neutrons.
In a molten-salt reactor, thorium is mixed with a chemical called lithium fluoride and heated to about 1400°C (2550°F).
This mixture is then bombarded with neutrons until some of the thorium starts to transform into uranium-232 which then decays in a fission reaction.
As it decays, this uranium then produces more neutrons which convert additional thorium into fuel.
In theory, this reactor design could turn an extremely abundant element into a nearly limitless source of power.
Labourors work at a rare earth mine at Bayan Obo mine area on November 28, 2010 in Baotou, Inner Mongolia of China
Molten-salt reactors also produce significantly less nuclear waste and remove the risk of nuclear meltdown by keeping the levels of fissile material relatively low.
China, which has started to build the world’s first thorium molten salt nuclear power station, was previously believed to have enough thorium reserves to meet its energy needs for 20,000 years.
‘For over a century, nations have been engaging in wars over fossil fuels. It turns out the endless energy source lies right under our feet,’ a Beijing-based researcher, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told the South China Post.
The expert, explaining the significance of the discovery, claimed ‘every nation has thorium’ and argued that using it could revolutionise the energy industry.
‘Imagine cargo ships powered by container-sized reactors crossing oceans for years without refuelling,’ the geologist said.
China last year approved construction of the world’s first-ever thorium molten-salt reactors (TMSR) plant in the Gobi Desert.
The reactor is expected to generate 10 megawatts of electricity, according to a report by Shanghai Nuclear Engineering Research and Design Institute.
Beijing alleges the plant will be operational by 2029 and help China achieve ‘energy independence’.
Researchers worldwide have been teasing the use of thorium – a naturally-occurring, slightly radioactive metal – as a primary energy source for many years.
Thorium is more readily found in nature than uranium, and can also generate 200 times more energy than uranium, according to the World Nuclear Association.
But the World Nuclear Association warns extracting the element in a way that is cost-effective remains challenging.
Researchers say the use of thorium in molten salt reactors would produce less toxic waste in the long run, and could be more easily reprocessed.
Thorium exploration, which requires a significant research and development investment, is primarily occurring in China.
The US has also evaluated a range of thorium-based fuel cycles.
Amid reports that both Russia and China are expanding and updating their nuclear facilities, officials with the US National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) say America may soon have no choice but to restart their weapons testing programs. This atomic test took place on March 23, 1955, at the Nevada Test Site
President Donald Trump has also made the raw materials of modern life a pillar of his foreign policy and is today set to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and secure a much-vaunted minerals deal with Ukraine
America, which is the largest producer of nuclear energy in the world, has not changed its nuclear energy production much over the last 30 years.
But Russia has continued to climb in the nuclear-energy race and exports many reactors.
Similarly, Beijing is heavily investing in civilian nuclear tech and atomic power generation. China also has plans to build 24 new nuclear power plants by 2030.
Amid reports that both Russia and China are expanding and updating their nuclear facilities, officials with the US National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) say America may soon have no choice but to restart their weapons testing programs.
The US has not conducted a real-world test of a nuclear bomb since 1992. After decades of declining nuclear stockpiles, the nuclear agency sees a real possibility that more countries around the world – including India, Pakistan, and North Korea – are preparing to enter a nuclear arms race.
President Donald Trump has also made the raw materials of modern life a pillar of his foreign policy and is today set to secure a much-vaunted minerals deal with Ukraine.
Ukraine has deposits of 22 of the 50 minerals classified as critical by the US government and has significant deposits of lithium, graphite, titanium, uranium used to generate nuclear power, alongside rare earth elements, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence (BMI).
A preliminary draft of the agreement focused on the creation of a joint US-Ukraine managed ‘Reconstruction Investment Fund’ to which Kyiv will contribute 50 per cent of future proceeds from state-owned mineral resources, oil and gas.
The fund will then invest ‘to promote the safety, security and prosperity of Ukraine’, according to the draft agreement.
Despite repeated requests from President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Trump Administration has offered Kyiv no security guarantee.
A worker controls extraction of ilmenite, a key element used to produce titanium, in an open pit mine in the central region of Kirovohrad, Ukraine, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (, File)
Miners extract ilmenite, a key element used to produce titanium, at an open pit mine in the central region of Kirovohrad, Ukraine, Feb. 12, 2025
Trump sees the minerals deal as America’s way of earning back some of the money it has given to Ukraine in the form of financial aid and weaponry to help fight Russia.
However, experts warn that any deal by Trump to access Ukraine’s critical minerals won’t get the US anywhere close to challenging China’s sizeable advantage in those key minerals while he is in power.
While Ukraine does have confirmed reserves of other critical metals, mining these minerals requires infrastructure and power – both of which are in short supply in Ukraine after three years of war.
China also dominates many critical mineral supply chains, not just because it has the largest ore reserves, but because it has mastered the mid-stream part of the production cycle.
It’s also starting to leverage it’s technical know-how by restricting exports of critical metal processing technology, making it even harder for the West to catch up.
