Chinanews, Hohhot, Aug 8 – The verified reserve of coal in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region now proves to rank highest in China. It is confirmed that by the first half of this year there were more than 400 coal mines existing in Inner Mongolia and the estimated coal reserve in the region had reached 650 billion tons.Inner Mongolia is rich in natural resources. The natural resources in Inner Mongolia are not only large in amount, but also easy to explore. Related information shows that Inner Mongolia ranks among the top ten in China in the ensured reserves of 66 kinds of minerals. Its rare earth reserves ranks first in the world.In recent years, more and more oil and natuarl gas reserves have been detected in Inner Mongolia. In Sulige Gasfield, the proven reserves of natural gas there reaches 700 billion cubic meters, making it one of the largest gasfields in the world. Due to the discovery of Sulige Gasfield, China has also made a major breakthrough in its gas production technology. In Hailar Basin, the total proven oil reserve there reaches nearly 90 million tons. The annual oil output there reached 500,000 tons last year.Apart from the above mineral resources, Inner Mongolia also leads the country in the reserves of iron ore, precious metals and non-ferrous metals.At present, the exploration work for coal and some non-ferrous metals are still underway. As the exploration work proceeds, local officials predict that by 2010, the reserves of coal and non-ferrous metals in Inner Mongolia will further increase.