Guizhou geologist reshapes China's manganese future

After four decades of exploration, Chinese geologist Zhou Qi has helped transform China's manganese resource landscape, uncovering world-class deposits and reducing the country's reliance on imported ore.

Zhou, chief scientist of the Guizhou Provincial Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, recently launched the Guizhou Intelligent Mineral Exploration Laboratory, where big data and AI will support the search for mineral resources at depths of up to 2,000 meters.

His achievements have already reshaped the industry. Leading a research team, Zhou identified four world-class concealed manganese deposits with newly proven reserves totaling 805 million metric tons – nearly 90 percent of China's newly discovered manganese reserves. The resources have an estimated potential economic value exceeding 1 trillion yuan ($140 billion), making Guizhou the largest manganese-producing province in Asia.

At a time when many experts believed Guizhou's manganese resources had been exhausted, Zhou persisted. Drawing on years of geological research, he challenged conventional theories and proposed a new model for manganese mineralization. He later combined advanced seismic exploration technology with geological studies to verify the theory, providing a new approach to locating concealed manganese deposits.