Chinanews, Lanzhou, Dec. 24 -Recently, 10 surveyors from Gansu Province have finished mapping Lop Nor for the first time, and the topographic map of the area will be published in 2007.

 

Located in the northeast part of Takalimakan Desert, Lop Nor has long been a blank on the topographic map of China, although the history of exploration of the area started in the late 1800s. Twenty-six years ago, the famous Chinese topographer, Peng Jiamu, even sacrificed his life for an exploration.

 

The 10 surveyors started the project on last October 10. After 61 days of labor, they have finally completed a topographic map covering about 47,000 sq km of land in the Lop Nor area.

 

Besides mapping, the surveyors have also found rich gold and leopoldite reserves in the area. It is proved that there are about 500 million tons of leopoldite reserves in Lop Nor.

 

An accurate map based on the topographic map will be published in 2007, and it will be very handy to both travellers and scientists.