BEIJING (Commodity Online) : Continuing crackdown against illegal mines in the country, China, home to largest number of mines in the world, has shut down over 1,000 illegal coal mines in a countrywide operation.
According to country’s State Administration of Work Safety, authorities had closed 1,289 coal mines for illegal production.
In the nationwide effort, designed to end the illegal production of coal, as many as 86 people had been arrested on charges related to mine safety.
The toll from coal mine accidents fell 31 percent to 1,083 in China in the first seven months of this year from a year ago.
Demand for coal continues to rise in China to meet the energy appetite of the country's burgeoning upper and middleclass.
Despite all these efforts Chinese coal mines remained among the most dangerous in the world.
