A seabed gold deposit was discovered in 2015 near Sanshan Island in Shandong province. [Photo by Wang Ziyong/for chinadaily.com.cn]

Jiaodong Peninsula in East China's Shandong province has become the world's third-largest gold mining area as gold deposits in deep areas and seabed have been discovered in the past decade, according to Shandong Provincial Department of Natural Resources.

A total of 133 gold deposits including four containing at least 100 metric tons of gold each, have been discovered in the peninsula since 2011, Yu Xiangdong, head of the department said at a news press on Thursday.

These gold deposits discovered since 2011 have a total of 2957.62 metric tons of proven and probable reserve.