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Deep coal-mine shafts raise security risk: Official

By Ben Yue (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2011-05-23 13:52

The increasing number of thousand-meter-deep coal-mine shafts in China has raised the risk of gas accidents, the Economic Information Daily reported on Monday, quoting Wang Xianzheng, president of the China National Coal Association.

Wang said China now has more than 20 shafts deeper than one thousand meters, and 28.5 percent of shafts are deeper than 600 meters, which could lead to hidden security problems, especially from gas emissions and rock bursts in deep coal seams.

Wang said China should build more automatic mines and eliminate outdated production capacity. Coal mining companies should also improve their innovation abilities.