WELLINGTON, May 29 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand's strategic mineral potential has been greatly enhanced by a GNS Science study which has highlighted areas of interest across parts of the country, Energy and Resource Minister Megan Woods said on Tuesday.

The results of the Mineral Potential Studies into lithium, rare earth elements (REE) and nickel-cobalt were released on Tuesday at the Minerals Forum in Queenstown of the South Island.

"There is sky-rocketing demand around the world for minerals which are used in clean-tech and which can aid our transition to a low carbon economy. That demand represents a real economic opportunity for New Zealand," Woods said in a statement.

Innovative techniques have been used to create three maps of potential prospectivity using a range of geochemistry, geophysics, rock analyses and cutting-edge data interpretation methods, and they are the first of their kind to be produced in New Zealand, Woods said.

The study, commissioned by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, has revealed lithium potential in the central North Island and the Hohonu Range on the West Coast of the South Island, nickel-cobalt potential in Nelson-Tasman-Marlborough and Southland regions while REE potential exists on the West Coast.

"There remains work to be done, but we now have a sound base to inform decisions on these strategic minerals which are widely used for energy storage in electric vehicles and other low emission technologies," the minister said.?