Recently, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment announced the results of the "Overall investigation project on minerals and completing the 1/50,000 scale geological map of the Northwest region to serve the planning of sustainable socio-economic development (Northwest Project)".
After nearly 8 years of implementation, the Northwest Project has completed a geological - mineral map of over 13,381 km, covering the Northwest region, discovering 110 mineral mines with 25 different types of minerals such as rare earth, tin-wolfram, gold, copper, antimon, artisanal stone, industrial limestone.
Among the mineral and metal mines, there are 40 gold mines with a total of 333 hectares of gold identified.
Of the 40 gold mines discovered, there are 14 medium mines, 26 small mines, distributed in the provinces: Dien Bien (1), Lai Chau (5), Ha Giang (Yen Bai) (2), Cao Bang (2), Tuyen Quang (8), Lang Son (2), Bac Kan (8), Son La (2), Thanh Hoa 4, Nghe An4.
The two localities that discovered the most gold mines were Tuyen Quang (8 mines) and Bac Kan (8 mines).
In Bac Kan, the Thuan Mang - Kim Hy area in Thuong Quan and Duc Van communes, Ngan Son district, Bac Kan province has 2 gold ore strips Na Po and Khuoi Po. Some drilling holes have encountered ore at 140m in the direction of the ore body.
In Tuyen Quang, the gold ore blocks distributed in the investigation area are located along cracks, extending to a depth of 500m. The drilling hole has encountered a gold-mined area at a depth of 220m. This area is likely to have ore blocks at the bottom, which need to be further investigated and evaluated.
Areas with gold minerals in Tuyen Quang that have been and are being exploited are often small-scale, existing as minerals accompanied by lead and zinc, antimon.
In 2024, the lead-zinc mine and accompanying gold minerals of Quang Thang Tuyen Quang Company Limited in Lam Binh district had to stop operations when facing opposition from people related to land and environmental issues.
