China to shut 4,000 more small coal mines by 2010: safety official
10/7/2008 16:48
China will close more than 4,000 small coal mines to reduce their total
number to below 10,000 by 2010, said a coal mine safety official
yesterday.
"The large number of small coal mines remains a threat to
production safety," said Zhao Tiechui, head of the State Administration of Coal
Mine Safety. He urged coal-rich provinces, regions and municipalities to close
more of these small mines and make sure they stay closed, while fostering larger
mines.
Zhao said this at a meeting on treating coal mine gas, held in the
capital city of northeast China's Liaoning Province.
China has about 16,000
coal mines, 90 percent of which are small, and their safety record is far worse
than large operations. For each 1 million tonnes of coal produced, the death
toll at small mines is eight times that of large state-owned
ones.
Xinhua
|
