Shanxi discovered 2.437 billion tons of coal resources last year
Reporters recently learned from the Shanxi Provincial Department of Natural Resources that the province has vigorously implemented geological prospecting operations in recent years. Last year, 2.437 billion tons of coal resources were newly discovered, far exceeding the same period of coal production.
Shanxi is known as “Coal Sea”. According to estimates, the coal-bearing area of Shanxi Province is 57,000 square kilometers, accounting for 36.3% of its territorial area. By the end of 2014, Shanxi has accumulated 29.43 billion tons of proven coal reserves and 268.967 billion tons of retained resources, accounting for 17.56% of the country’s total reserves, ranking third in the country.
Shanxi Province has vigorously implemented geological prospecting operations in recent years. Last year, provincial finance invested 357 million yuan, arranged 83 geological prospecting projects, checked and accepted 60 previous projects, and added a number of important mineral resources reserves, including 2.437 billion tons of coal resources and 82 million tons of bauxite.
With the increasing reserves of coal resources, Shanxi’s annual coal output has stabilized in recent years: in 2016, Shanxi’s coal output was about 832 million tons; in 2017, Shanxi’s coal output was about 875 million tons; according to the latest data released by Shanxi Statistical Bureau, Shanxi’s coal output was about 893 million tons in 2018.
It is reported that Shanxi has been deepening the structural reform of coal supply side in recent years. Over the past three years, it has withdrawn 88.41 million tons of excess capacity of coal. It is expected that Shanxi will withdraw more than 100 million tons of excess capacity of coal in an orderly manner by 2020, and the output of raw coal in the whole province will stabilize at about 1 billion tons.
Source: www.chinacoal.gov.cn