China begins drilling 11,100

staff writer

Hong Kong – China has started digging an 11,100-meter borehole in its oil-rich Xinjiang region in Beijing's latest effort to unearth rich mineral and energy resources.

The landmark project began last week in the Tarim Basin in the hinterland of the Taklimakan Desert, the largest and driest desert entirely within China, state media reported.

An 82-meter-high tailor-made automatic drilling rig, which weighs more than 2,000 metric tons, will penetrate over 10 layers of continental strata, and reach the Cretaceous system — stratified rocks formed between 66 million to 145 million years ago.

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