Wednesday, November 22, 2000, updated at 14:27(GMT+8)
China
New Super Coal Mine in NW China Opens
A new super coal mine, the Huojitu Coal Mine, has been completed and started operation recently.
The new coal mine is located in Zhongji, a town in Shenmu County in northern Shaanxi Province. It is part of the Shenfu-Dongsheng coalfield listed as one of the seven biggest coalfields in the world.
The ground-breaking for the new coal mine was done in 1993 with the assistance of an energy loan by the Japanese government.
The total investment for the new mine is 1.88 billion yuan (some US$227 million), whose designed annual output is 5 million tons and the expected service span is about 96 years.