The mine, ranking as the country's largest leaching sandstone-type uranium deposit identified so far, was found in central Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, state-run Xinhua quoted an announcement by the Ministry of Land and Resources as saying today.

The discovery, which makes the site one of the world's top uranium mines, has great significance for boosting domestic uranium supplies and ensuring energy sources for developing nuclear power, the ministry said, without elaborating on the mine's size.

The site was discovered along with a "super-size" coal mine, the reserve of which was estimated at 51 billion tonnes, the ministry said.

The discovery underlines the country's efforts to promote combined exploration of coal and uranium in a bid to save investment, it said.

A 500-strong team consisting of technicians and constructors from nuclear power companies and related government departments has been deployed in the 10-month exploration after the site was tested for radioactivity during drilling.

In 2008, China discovered its first 10,000-ton level leaching sandstone-type uranium deposit in the Yili basin in the northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

China, a major importer of uranium recently said it has given green signal to resume construction of a small number of the 40 new nuclear plants, lifting a ban after Fukoshima disaster.

China also has an elaborate nuclear weapons programme.