China on Tuesday confirmed the discovery of a large 21-metric tonne gold deposit in Guangdong province.

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Quoting unidentified sources from the Guangdong Geological Bureau, state agency Xinhua News reported the gold deposit has a potential value worth billions of yuan.

Located in western Guangdong, the gold deposit's main body measures 800 meters long. It has also been found to contain reserves of silver, measuring 26 metric tonnes.

The latest discovery, which is the province's third, further affirms Guangdong's reputation as one of China's major gold producers. Two other gold deposits were discovered in Guangdong in the 1980s and 1990s, with reserves of more than 20 metric tonnes each.

It won't be long before gold miners take interest to develop the gold deposit site. According to Xinhua News, there are currently five companies mining gold in the province as of 2010. Their collective annual investment was 100 billion yuan (US$16.13 billion).

Early in July, a 50 metric tonne gold deposit was likewise discovered in Hejing county in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The deposit has an economic potential of 100 billion yuan ($16.3 billion), according to Xinhua News. Aside from gold, the deposit also contained 187 million tonnes of iron and 1.5 million tonnes of zinc.

Plans for the construction of a mining plant are already underway. About 2,000 jobs are expected to be generated.

The area where the gold deposit discovery was made was within the Narat-Hongliu River metallogenic belt. Authorities said more precious metals can be potentially discovered from that area.