Doha: China announced Wednesday the discovery of a massive deposit of 490 million tonnes of lithium ore in central Hunan Province in central China.

According to Qatar News Agency, the provincial department of natural resources said that the deposit, found in the Jijiaoshan mining area in Linwu County, has been classified as an altered granite-type lithium deposit, containing about 1.31 million tonnes of lithium oxide.

It also contains other minerals such as rubidium, tungsten, and tin, added the department.

Due to complex geological conditions, the discovery was made possible through advances in exploration technologies and years of exploration work, according to the Mineral Resources Survey Institute of Hunan Province, which led the project.

Lithium is an essential element in the manufacture of electric car batteries, glass, ceramics, and some medicines.

In January, the China Geological Survey under the Ministry of Natural Resources said the country's lithium reserves had increased to 16.5 percent of the global total, propelling it to the second place in the world rankings.