In Dongmawang Village, Kenli Street, Kenli District, Dongying City, a tall horizontal drilling rig and a vertical drilling rig face each other across the air. Workers are carrying out final maintenance. The first approved rock salt mine project in Dongying City, the Xinglong area rock salt mine development and utilization project, is about to be put into operation.

Rock salt is a mineral formed by the precipitation of lakes and ancient seawater in the Earth's crust after complex geological movements. Dongying has abundant reserves and excellent quality of rock salt resources, with huge potential for development and utilization. It is another major advantageous resource after oil and natural gas. Dongying City is an important salt chemical base in the province and even the whole country. As the main consumer of industrial salt, the production capacity of ion exchange membrane caustic soda is over 2 million tons, ranking first in the province. At present, the main source of raw salt is sea salt. However, with seasonal climate change and national policy adjustments, the production of sea salt has been decreasing year by year, and the quality and price of finished salt have been greatly affected, which has had a significant impact on salt chemical production enterprises. Therefore, implementing mineral salt projects is an important measure for Dongying City to develop mineral resources reasonably, improve the industrial chain, and promote high-quality economic development.

On August 26, 2016, the Shandong Provincial Public Resource Trading Center listed the sale of the exploration rights for the Xinglong area rock salt mine in Kenli District. The mining rights were won by Shandong Yellow River Delta Mineral Salt Chemical Co., Ltd. On January 17, 2017, the Department of Land and Resources of Shandong Province granted the exploration right for the first time. The exploration right is named Xinglong Area Rock Salt Mineral Survey, and the exploration right holder is Shandong Yellow River Delta Mineral Salt Chemical Co., Ltd. On October 21, 2021, the exploration rights were separated and divided into two exploration rights: detailed exploration of rock salt mines in the southern and northern sections of Xinglong area. On July 6, 2023, the Natural Resources and Planning Bureau of Dongying City issued a mining license for the southern section of the rock salt mine, officially completing the transfer of exploration rights to mining rights.

Wang Lihua, from the Geological and Mining Department of Dongying Natural Resources and Planning Bureau, introduced that "the exploration and conversion of mining rights is a crucial transition for mining enterprises from initial investment to later returns. Whether mining enterprises can smoothly transition from exploration rights to mining rights not only affects whether mining enterprises can implement resource development and utilization as soon as possible to provide resource guarantees for the country and people's livelihood, but also affects whether mining enterprises can complete investment returns and achieve a virtuous cycle of sustainable development on schedule." The issuance of mining licenses marks a new achievement in the transfer and development of mining rights in Dongying City.

Every 100 meters from the surface downwards, the temperature rises by 3 ℃. In addition, the geological conditions of the 4000 meter underground mine are complex, and the mining process is prone to problems such as pipeline blockage. As the deepest buried salt mine currently developed in China, the exploration and development of rock salt mines in Xinglong area are difficult. For this purpose, the project adopts the world's most advanced drilling and directional connected water-soluble mining technology, effectively solving the above problems and filling the engineering and technical gap in the development of deep well salt mines in China.

Yan Xiaoqiang, the manager of Shandong Yellow River Delta Mineral and Salt Chemical Co., Ltd., introduced: "The total investment for the development and utilization of the southern section of the rock salt mine is 1 billion yuan. Currently, nearly 600 million yuan has been invested, and a 7 million m3/year comprehensive utilization project for brine and geothermal energy has been constructed. After completion, it can achieve sales revenue of 1.17 billion yuan and profits and taxes exceeding 850 million yuan. The brine extracted will be transported through underground pipelines to the New Materials Industrial Park in Dongying Economic Development Zone for use by chlor alkali enterprises such as Huatai Chemical, Jinling Chemical, Jinmao Chemical, and surrounding salt fields." After the completion of the project, it will further improve the salt chemical industry chain in Dongying City and effectively enhance the core competitiveness of the industry.