Facing an ever-growing appetite for coal production this year, the country's work safety watchdog is mulling over the introduction of a "life-saving capsule" - a mine refuge facility placed deep in the mining shaft.

The underground space would provide oxygen, drinking water and food for miners seeking temporary safety from accidents, said Zhao Tiechui, deputy director of the State Administration of Work Safety and director of the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety.

The administration plans to start with pilot projects using the safety facility this year, said Zhao.

Earlier models of the facility will be those that are fixed in the mining shafts. Future structures made of metal in more sophisticated forms will be movable.

Zhao said such facilities have been used in foreign countries.

South Africa, Canada and Australia are among the countries that have already introduced such facilities, according to foreign media reports.

The new facility is expected to reduce China's large number of casualties in coal mine production.

A total of 2,631 coal miners died in mine accidents last year, down by 18 percent year-on-year, according to official figures released yesterday.

They died in 1,616 coal mine accidents, down 17 percent compared with the previous year.

Among the accidents, the deadliest occurred in Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, claiming 108 lives in November 2009.