(Yicai) Aug. 10 -- The total reserves of the Xiling gold mine, China’s largest, has risen to about 592 metric tons, according to state-owned Shandong Gold Group.

The mine’s gold reserves have an estimated value of more than CNY200 billion (USD27.8 billion), the Jinan-based company said at a media briefing today.

Shandong Gold, which owns the mine in Laizhou in eastern Shandong province, said in 2017 that Xiling had 382.58 tons of gold reserves. The firm has now raised that by about 209.6 tons. It also said the mine has silver reserves of 590 tons.

The mine’s resources are mainly at a depth of 1,000 meters to 2,500 meters, also making it the deepest gold deposit in the country, said Li Hang, a director and general manager of Shandong Gold.

The Xiling gold mine can maintain production for 40-odd years, if about 3.3 million tons are mined annually.

Shares of Shandong Gold Mining [SHA: 600547], the group’s listed arm, rose 0.4 percent to CNY25.09 (USD3.48) apiece today, after swinging between a gain of 0.8 percent and a decline of 1.5 percent.

Set up in 1996, Shandong Gold’s output of the yellow precious metal ranked it 10th globally in 2019 and 2020.

Editor: Peter Thomas