Chinese geologists say they have verified a vast underground gold deposit beneath the Qurum (“Kunlun”) Mountains in East Turkistan, what Beijing calls “Xinjiang (New Territory),” estimating more than 1,000 tonnes of gold buried at depths exceeding 2,000 metres. Valued at roughly $90bn at current prices, the discovery is the third so-called “supergiant” gold find China has announced in a single year, reinforcing Beijing’s long-term strategy of extracting strategic resources from occupied territories.
The deposit was confirmed on November 4, 2025, by a state-run geological team based in Kashgar and detailed in a peer-reviewed study published by Acta Geoscientifica Sinica. Chinese geologists describe the Qurum find as one of the largest gold discoveries globally in recent decades.
State-led confirmation and scale of extraction
According to the published study, the Qurum deposit forms part of a broad, scattered-vein gold belt extending across the western Qurum range. The project was led by senior engineer He Fubao, who oversaw exploration work spanning more than ten years.
“The outline of the thousand-tonne gold belt west of Kunlun is now taking shape,” He said, according to the journal.
The discovery, as reported by the South China Morning Post, follows two other major discoveries reported earlier in 2025: the Dadonggou gold field in Liaoning Province and a separate large deposit in Hunan. Together, the three sites account for more than 3,400 tonnes of geological gold resources, exceeding previous estimates of China’s remaining unmined gold.
While Beijing presents the discoveries as a national economic achievement, all exploration and verification work in East Turkistan is conducted by Chinese colonists and state institutions without the consent of the territory’s native peoples, who have no control over land use, environmental safeguards, or revenue allocation.
Deep mining challenges and economic uncertainty
Despite the scale of the Qurum deposit, specialists caution that geological size does not guarantee commercial viability. Gold in the Qurum belt is dispersed across thin veins rather than concentrated in high-grade zones, requiring the extraction and processing of enormous volumes of rock.
Most of the ore lies between 2,000 and 3,000 metres below the surface, where extreme heat, rock pressure and ventilation requirements sharply increase costs. Ultra-deep, low-grade gold mining is rare globally and typically viable only under sustained high prices and favorable regulatory conditions.
Engineers involved in the appraisal process estimate that further drilling, feasibility studies and infrastructure development could take decades. Full extraction timelines of 30 to 50 years are considered likely, assuming the project proceeds at all.
Strategic motives and colonial resource control
The Qurum discovery aligns with Beijing’s broader push to secure domestic supplies of strategic commodities amid global instability. China is already the world’s largest gold producer but remains a net importer, consuming far more gold than it mines annually.
The People’s Bank of China has added gold to its reserves for twelve consecutive months through October 2025, a trend analysts say reflects efforts to reduce reliance on the U.S. dollar and insulate China from sanctions risk.
Gold prices surged more than 50 percent in 2025, driven in part by sustained central bank buying. Goldman Sachs has forecast prices approaching $4,900 an ounce by late 2026, while the World Gold Council reports growing global demand for gold as a reserve asset.
For East Turkistan, however, the discovery represents not wealth but intensified exploitation under colonial domination. Environmental risks, including water contamination and long-term tailings pollution, are expected to fall on native communities already subjected to land seizures, surveillance, and political repression.
Whether the Qurum deposit ultimately becomes a producing mine remains uncertain. What is clear is that Beijing’s control over East Turkistan continues to underpin its access to strategic resources, with long-term consequences that extend far beyond the gold market.
