Northwest China's Qinghai Province will invest 500 million yuan (about 73.2 million U.S.dollars) to explore mineral resources in the region's Qaidam Basin, according to the province's Land and Resources Bureau.

Qaidam Basin, which locates in the north of Qinghai Province, is one of China's four biggest inland basins.

So far, a total of 57 kinds of mineral resources, have been detected,with an estimated economic value of 16 trillion yuan(about 2.3 trillion U.S.dollars).

The bureau says the 500 million yuan(about 73.2 million U.S.dollars) will be mainly used to detect mineral resources within the region from 2010 to 2012.