China to close Beijing's privately-owned coal mines in 2010

18 June 2009 04:22  [Source: ICIS news]

SHANGHAI (ICIS news)--China will close the remaining 32 privately-owned coal mines in its capital - Beijing by the end of next year in line with its environmental and safety goals, an official from the Beijing Administration of Work Safety told ICIS news on Thursday.

Five privately-owned coal mines will be closed this year, with 27 others to stop operations in 2010, based on the plan. These mines are small-scale operations with capacities under 300,000 tonnes/year.

“By the end of next year, we will operate only four large-scale state-owned coal mines here in Beijing,” the official said.

"[Coal] output would be decreased of course, but the environment and the safety [concerns] are the most important things we should [address]," he added.

The Beijing government had closed the operations of 20 privately-owned coal mines since 2005, which cut the coal output of China's capital by 44% to 5m tonnes/year.

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By: Dolly Wu
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