(Yicai Global) Sept. 1 -- China's northern autonomous region of Inner Mongolia has identified total coal resources of 1.02 trillion tons, making it the most coal-rich region or province in China, the local government said in a press briefing.

The government had reported a total of 651.5 billion tons of coal resources in the region as of the end of last year, representing 63.6 percent of the region's cumulative identified coal resources, state-owned news agency Xinhua said.

Inner Mongolia produces 850 million tons of coal a year, making up a quarter of the country's total output. The region's coal production fell from 984.4 million tons in 2011 to 838.28 million tons in 2016 following government efforts to cut excess capacity.

Inner Mongolia has also discovered a number of large and medium-sized gold, molybdenum and dolomite mines in recent years, with huge new reserves. Activities for new mine discovery yielded 7.12 percent success rate, well above the world average rate of 2 to 4 percent.