Gansu Province, home to vast gold resources in northwestern China, strives to raise its annual gold output to 15 tons by 2010, said sources at a gold industry symposium recently held in the provincial capital of Lanzhou.

Gansu has 550 gold ore deposits, including seven large deposits, 25 medium-sized and 96 small ones. Local enterprises process 200,000 tons of gold sand annually, the Gansu Economic Daily reports.

The province has verified gold reserves of 709 tons, of which 422 tons, or 59.5 percent, are workable.

To achieve the 15-ton production goal, Gansu's gold sector will enhance geological prospecting for more deposits, boost industrial restructuring and production upgrading and intensify control over market access, the sources said.

Last year China produced 224 tons of gold, up 5.5 percent over the previous year, according to the China Gold Association.

Source: Xinhua