The Iron Ore Resources of China

can be seen clearly. The output of the Anshan area which possesses more than one-half of the known reserves of the country amounts to approximately twothirds that of the rest of China (Table II). At present Japan controls 90% of the available Chinese and Manchukuoan reserves. Iron ore is widely distributed, although the reserves are not so abundant as those of coal, and commercial production is limited to three major fields: Southern Manchukuo, the Peiping District, and the Lower Yangtze Valley. Of these, the first mentioned is by far the most significant at the present time. In Outer Mongolia, Kansu, Sinkiang, and Szechuan, small and supposedly rich ore bodies are reported, but, since accurate information concerning them is lacking, they have not been plotted. The total iron ore reserves of China are estimated to be only 1,000,000,000 tons of which 750,000,000 tons, or 75 %, are in Southern Manchukuo (Liaoning) (Figure 1). Less than 25 % of the reserves are high grade, in some cases the metallic content being as much as 60%. This is found in small scattered deposits, principally in Southern Manchukuo, Hopei, Hupeh, and Anhwei. A compilation of the various estimates of Chinese iron resources which have been made by various authorities in recent years is given in Table I. The greater part of the reserves of Manchukuo are Archean, probably of sedimentary origin, bedded in crystalline schists, and interrupted by frequent granitic intrusions and faulting. The ore occurs in a relatively narrow field extending across the Liaotung Peninsula between the Yalu River and the Hun-Ho, a tributary of the Liao-Ho. Localized pockets of high-grade limonites and hematites occur, interbedded with inferior grades. The greater part, however, consists of low-grade ore approximating30% iron, and expensive

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