Hidden within the granite wilderness of central China lies an antenna so vast it dwarfs New York City five times over – a 500-kilowatt electromagnetic leviathan originally built to whisper to submarines.
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Now, it is broadcasting China’s dominance in the global scramble for critical minerals.
As nations race to secure lithium, cobalt and rare earths for green tech supremacy, Chinese geologists are deploying this monster – and its cousins – to detect ore and energy resources buried kilometres deep.
In recent years, researchers have reported a large number of game-changing finds including the world’s largest gold deposit, ultra-large lithium reserves and never-before-seen deep uranium ores.
Their world-leading electromagnetic arsenal, systematically revealed for the first time in a China Geological Survey (CGS) study published in the peer-reviewed journal Geophysical & Geochemical Exploration in August, leaves competitors in the dust.
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