China has discovered a rare earth deposit in Honghe, Yunnan province, with potential resources of 1.15 million metric tons, strengthening the country's rare earth resource advantage and industrial chain, the China Geological Survey said on Friday.

The CGS, a division of the Ministry of Natural Resources, noted in a news release that critical rare earth elements such as praseodymium, neodymium, dysprosium and terbium exceed 470,000 tons in this newly discovered rare earth deposit.

The newly discovered deposit is a super-large ion-adsorption type of rare earth, marking another significant breakthrough in China since the first such discovery in Jiangxi province in 1969, the CGS added.

The deposit is expected to become China's largest medium to heavy rare earth mine and is of great significance to consolidate China's rare earth resource advantages and improve the rare earth industrial chain, the CGS said in the release.