(Photos: Xinhua)
Ruqigou coalfield in northwest China's Ningxia was blasted with
5,400 tonnes of dynamite on Thursday as mining operators began to
mine high-quality, but low-polluting, Taixi coal, known as "black
gold".
The blast, the largest such operation to be carried out in China
for more than a decade, will enable the opencast mining of about 14
million tonnes of Taixi coal.
Taixi coal is reputed for its high carbon content and burns with
a clean flame. Only Hongji coal of Vietnam can compare favorably to
it.
Experts at the blast site said the dynamite used was equivalent
to half the power of a nuclear bomb. It was enough to reduce a
270-meter-high hill in the coal field by 40 meters.
About 12,000 people in the surrounding area were evacuated
before the operation.
More than 100 sites were set up at the mine to monitor the dust
and poisonous gas emitted from the blast, according to Zheng
Bingxu, general manger of Guangdong Hundey Blasting Engineering
Co., Ltd.
The proven reserve of Taixi coal in China stands at 220 million
tonnes, paling in comparison with the country's total coal deposits
of one trillion tonnes.
(Xinhua News Agency December 20, 2007)
