China’s Ministry of Natural Resources introduced its “AI-OreSeeking” intelligent mineral-prospecting system at the 2026 China International Mining Conference on 11 September. The China Geological Survey said it developed the system to bring data, knowledge, algorithms and models into a single workflow for mineral-resource prediction and evaluation. The agency described the launch as the system’s first formal global release; that characterization comes from the agency’s own announcement.

The announcement lists five core functions: geological and mineral big-data management; knowledge management; data processing and interpretation; intelligent prediction and evaluation; and a large model for mineral prospecting. The stated purpose is to connect tools used across exploration stages. A list of functions does not establish that the system has been independently validated or that it produces the same results at every site.

The China Geological Survey says the platform contains a multi-scale national geology and mineral database, a mineral knowledge graph with more than one million entries, and over 200 algorithms for data processing, three-dimensional modelling and prediction across geology, geophysics, geochemistry and remote sensing. These are descriptions supplied by the releasing agency. The announcement does not provide a separate audit of data completeness or externally verified accuracy.

For an example in the western Qinling gold-prospecting project, the agency says the system processed multi-source data for 32 map sheets at 1:50,000 scale in five days, identifying two gold-target areas and four favourable zones. It compares this with work that had previously taken about six months and links the case to an efficiency improvement of more than 60 percent. This is one agency-reported application, not a controlled productivity study or a result that can be assumed for other deposits.

The release offers a concrete example of a public geological agency applying AI to critical-mineral exploration. It does not disclose comparable indicators for operating cost, false-positive rates, confirmation by drilling or commercial deployment. Companies, investors and mineral buyers therefore should not treat the announcement as evidence of additional proven reserves or new production. This report covers the system launch and the technical scope stated by its developer, while keeping those claims attributed.

The system is presented as adaptable to exploration and evaluation of solid minerals including gold, iron, copper, aluminium, lithium, cobalt, nickel, lead-zinc, chromium, potash and uranium. The agency says it has been trialled in more than 100 geological survey, block-selection and exploration projects across over ten provinces and regions, including Tibet, Xinjiang, Fujian, Shandong and Inner Mongolia. “Trialled” does not mean commercially licensed or producing.