China's National Development and Reform Commission has recently approved the development of a 122 million mt/year coal mining project in the Hami City of northwestern China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, a release on the official website of Xinjiang Development and Reform Commission said.
Comprising 19 coal mines, the Santanghu coal field in Hami City has proven coal reserves of 55 billion mt lying 1,000 meters underground, the release said last Friday. Its total reserves lying 2,000 meters underground can reach 120 billion mt, the release said.
It was not clarified whether the reserves included thermal and metallurgical coal, or just thermal coal. Though most of the coal reserves are low-to-medium ash and high volatile matter thermal coal.
Preparation work for the coal project has already started and is slated to be completed by June 2013.
Xinjiang aims to mine 140 million mt of crude coal in 2012, up from 120 million mt in 2011, Platts reported last week. It also plans to increase its annual coal output to 400 million mt in 2015, according to the 12th five-year development plan released by the Xinjiang regional government in June 2011.
