China shuts down dangerous mines

BEIJING – China shut at least 8 000 of its notoriously dangerous illegal mines in the past year, but tens of thousands of others continue to operate, state press yesterday quoted a top official as saying.

More than 8 000 mines were closed over the 12 months to September as part of a campaign to bring order to China’s mining industry, said Wang Min, vice minister of land and resources, in comments carried by Xinhua news agency. However, the ministry has actually detected a total of 65 313 unlicensed mines throughout the country, extracting a range of minerals, Wang told a mining conference Tuesday.It also found 5 469 cases of unauthorised excavations or prospecting.He did not specify whether the 8 000 closed mines were included in the 65 313 unlicensed operations or why the remaining mines were allowed to continue operating.Wang warned illegal operators who were trying to cash in on China’s voracious appetite for minerals and other resources that the government would continue to clamp down on unauthorised mining.However, officials have said previously that central government campaigns to shut down dangerous mines had failed due to resistance from local authorities and businessmen concerned chiefly with profits to be made.In the most recent admission of failure, state press reported last month that China would allow thousands of unsafe coal mines – the mining industry’s worst safety offenders – to continue operating until at least 2010.The central government had initially planned to shut down all unsafe coal mines by the end of 2007.”Problems emerged when the policy was implemented at local levels,” Xinhua quoted An Yuanjie, an official with the State Administration of Work Safety, as saying last month.”Small coal mines, some of which are notoriously deadly, are considered the major capital sources for local governments, leading to many local authorities protecting unsafe mines for financial gain,” she said.Almost 6 000 workers died in China’s coal mines last year – a rate of about 16 fatalities each day – according to official figures.Labour rights groups say the figure could be as high as 20 000 each year, because local government officials and mine owners often cover up accidents.Although the lack of control over mines has led to such high death rates, authorities need to ensure high output of minerals and other resources to feed the voracious appetite of China’s booming economy.”The mining industry, spurred by the robust demand and production capacity, is emerging as a crucial engine of China’s sizzling economic growth,” Wang said.Wang said production of raw coal, coke, iron ore, non-ferrous metals, phosphorite and cement all registered double-digit growth in the first nine months of the year, with iron ore output leading the way with 37,7 per cent growth.Coal accounts for over 70 per cent of the energy needs for China’s fast-modernizing population.China last year built 117 government-approved coal-fired power plants – a rate of roughly one every three days, according to official figures.Nampa-AFPHowever, the ministry has actually detected a total of 65 313 unlicensed mines throughout the country, extracting a range of minerals, Wang told a mining conference Tuesday.It also found 5 469 cases of unauthorised excavations or prospecting.He did not specify whether the 8 000 closed mines were included in the 65 313 unlicensed operations or why the remaining mines were allowed to continue operating.Wang warned illegal operators who were trying to cash in on China’s voracious appetite for minerals and other resources that the government would continue to clamp down on unauthorised mining.However, officials have said previously that central government campaigns to shut down dangerous mines had failed due to resistance from local authorities and businessmen concerned chiefly with profits to be made.In the most recent admission of failure, state press reported last month that China would allow thousands of unsafe coal mines – the mining industry’s worst safety offenders – to continue operating until at least 2010.The central government had initially planned to shut down all unsafe coal mines by the end of 2007.”Problems emerged when the policy was implemented at local levels,” Xinhua quoted An Yuanjie, an official with the State Administration of Work Safety, as saying last month.”Small coal mines, some of which are notoriously deadly, are considered the major capital sources for local governments, leading to many local authorities protecting unsafe mines for financial gain,” she said.Almost 6 000 workers died in China’s coal mines last year – a rate of about 16 fatalities each day – according to official figures.Labour rights groups say the figure could be as high as 20 000 each year, because local government officials and mine owners often cover up accidents.Although the lack of control over mines has led to such high death rates, authorities need to ensure high output of minerals and other resources to feed the voracious appetite of China’s booming economy.”The mining industry, spurred by the robust demand and production capacity, is emerging as a crucial engine of China’s sizzling economic growth,” Wang said.Wang said production of raw coal, coke, iron ore, non-ferrous metals, phosphorite and cement all registered double-digit growth in the first nine months of the year, with iron ore output leading the way with 37,7 per cent growth.Coal accounts for over 70 per cent of the energy needs for China’s fast-modernizing population.China last year built 117 government-approved coal-fired power plants – a rate of roughly one every three days, according to official figures.Nampa-AFP