There are 53 explored and confirmed kinds of minerals and 14 mineral deposits in this area. Yichang ranks six with a reserve of 1.2 billion ton of phosphorus, which is 17% of the state total and 70% of provincial reserves. It’s one of the four global sources for high quality graphite with approved reserves of 16.85 million ton. And 1.7 billion ton of iron ore reserves are 31% in the province. Some other minerals such as coal, gypsum, limestone, manganese, barites, granite, gold, silver, copper, tungsten are rich and subject to further exploration.