JINAN, March 29 -- A world-class gold mine with estimated reserves of 550 tonnes has been founded in eastern China's Shandong Province.

The newly-found gold deposit named Xiling is located in the Laizhou-Zhaoyuan region, said Shandong Gold Group Tuesday, adding that about 382 tonnes of gold reserves had been detected so far.

By 2019, a total of 550 tonnes of gold reserves are expected to be exploited in the deposit, worth more than 150 billion yuan (about 22 billion U.S. dollars).

The Laizhou-Zhaoyuan region is one of the largest gold production areas in China. The gold reserve and output in the region ranks first in the country.