Overseen by the State Bureau of Building Materials Industry; oversees the China National Non-metallic Minerals Industrial Import and Export Corporation (CNMIEC) which is reportedly negotiating with the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) to build a graphite production facility; conducts research on nonmetallic deposits, mining, ore dressing and processing; performs topographic surveys, engineering surveys, aerial surveys, remote sensing and geophysical investigations, and performance testing of minerals; has dispatched specialists to do geological research in Iran and Algeria; oversees more than 50 geological exploration and geotechnical engineering units, 12 mining and processing units, five research and design institutes, and three trading units.