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To: quehubo who wrote (21791)	4/21/2003 10:49:16 PM
From: Jimbobwae	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 206166

Q, Haven't seen the article but a few moons ago ('95+/-) WG was involved in developing/proposing a Coal Slurry Pipeline from the heart of the Chinese coal region to the eastern coast. This was a parlay of their expertise at Black Mesa. I recall the descriptions of the antiquated methods the Chinese were using in the everyday mining process that was closer to picks and shovels than anything mechanized. J

To: quehubo who wrote (21791)	4/22/2003 8:29:15 PM
From: Tomas	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 206166

China's coal reserves - Tonnes of problems The Economist, April 19-25 issue Blackened faces turn pale IT MAY seem odd, but China could soon be running out of coal. The once boundless reserves of the dirty stuff, providing around 70% of the country's energy needs, are rapidly coming to an end, according to Chinese officials and some outside analysts. At the annual session of China's parliament last month, Lang Qingtian, a representative of the coal industry, said the looming coal shortage was "one of the greatest hidden dangers in China's future". The problem will become apparent as early as next year, Mr Lang predicted, with a shortage of 200m tonnes of coal, and continued shortages will threaten future economic growth. Couched as Mr Lang's report was with a plea for more state investment in his industry, such handwringing is discounted by some as a bit of lobbying. But his message echoed a warning issued last year by Li Rongrong, a minister in the State Economic and Trade Commission, who said the vast bulk of the country's coal reserves would be depleted in the near-to-medium future. Of China's 390 mining townships, he said 68% were already in their "autumn period" and another 12% were "ailing". Only the remaining 20% retained long-term production potential. Across the north-east, huge mines are already due for closure because of declining output. Asia's largest strip coalmine, at Xilutian in Liaoning province, is due to close in 2007. Fuxin, in the same province, is already struggling to find work for its 400,000 hard-hats who have run out of coal to dig. Joe Zhang, an analyst with UBS Warburg in Hong Kong, believes that growth in demand will consistently exceed supply. China's considerable coal exports can be expected to fall, and it could become a net importer of coal as soon as 2005. China, according to Mr Zhang, "faces a long-term risk of coal and power shortages". The coal shortages and power rationing reported in four provinces may, he thinks, soon be replicated elsewhere. According to Jerry Tien, a coal specialist at the University of Missouri-Rolla, China's growing shortages are due not only to depletion, but also to restructuring in which many thousands of dangerous and inefficient small mines have been closed on economic or safety grounds in recent years. But, he says, China may indeed face long-term shortages because it has lagged behind in exploration, and mine bosses are desperate for the cash they need to develop new sources. The government has so far been slow to provide the money. With its debt inexorably rising as the demands on its resources mount, it has little choice. But, already fretting over the potential security risks of China's rising appetite for imported oil, its leaders may soon see the wisdom of investing more in domestic coal. James Brock, of Haarmann Hemmelrath, a management consultancy, reckons the necessary capital investment in the industry would still cost China less than importing more of its energy. Rising demand, rising production costs and the added costs of washing coal to comply with newer environmental standards will all push prices up, he predicts, and "people may indeed feel there is a shortage of coal at the prices they want to pay. But a physical shortage? I doubt it very much."