China to Close 7,000 Coal Mines by 2010

Chinese authorities are expected to close 7,000 small coal mines by 2010 in the province of Shanxi, the main producing region of that mineral in the country, China Daily reports Wednesday.

The aim, states the daily, is to eliminate small, unstable and sometimes illegal facilities in the zone by 2010.

The plan is to reduce to only 2,000 the current 9,000 mines in that northern region where 80 percent of the production is concentrated in the largest fields to mine over one million tons annually.

According to government plans, such measures must not affect coal production, which in accordance with estimates, will be in the order of 70 million tons by late this decade.