Shanxi to auction off coal mines
By Wang Ying (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-04-18 08:42
Shanxi, the Chinese province that produces more coal than any other, will
sell three coal mines with combined reserves of up to 300 million tons by
June.
Each of the three mines has a reserve of between 50-100 million
tons, according to an official with the trading centre of Shanxi Land and
Resource Bureau.
Two of the mines are located in the counties of Lanxian
and Xiangfen. The location of the third has not been disclosed.
The
resource-rich province will sell the mining rights through a competitive bidding
process, the official said.
"We have received approval from the
provincial government," the official said.
According to industry
regulations, coalmines with reserves of more than 100 million tons have to
obtain national-level approval before they can be sold.
Those with less
than 100 million tons of reserves can be sold with approval from the provincial
government.
The government official yesterday refused to reveal how long
the mining rights would last for, how much they wanted for them and whether
foreign investors would be allowed to be involved.
Huang Teng, a senior
industry consultant, who previously worked with China Coal, the country's
second-biggest coal producer, said government policies do not block foreign
control of coalmines, except for coking coal that is scarcer.
A
researcher with the Ministry of Land and Resources, who declined to be
identified, yesterday said the government was cautious about approving foreign
ownership of China's energy resources.
China is the world's largest coal
producer and consumer. Last year, the country produced 2.1 billion tons of coal
to drive its fast-growing economy, a quarter of which came from Shanxi
Province.
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