The Impact of, and Responses to, the Closure of Small-Scale Coal Mines in China: A Preliminary Account

Abstract

The last ten years or so have seen an increased concern in a number of features of the mining industry, two of which are of particular relevance to this chapter. The first is the management of the socio-economic impact of large-scale mines, and planning for their closure. The second is the effective regulation of small-scale mines. However, little attention has been devoted to the overlap of these two issues ‐ that is, managing the closure of small-scale mines so as to minimise their negative socio-economic impact. The aim of this chapter is to provide a preliminary analysis of the issue of managing the closure of small-scale mines, 1 using coal mines in China as an example. It provides a provisional account of the impact of, and some responses to, the enforced closure of large numbers of small-scale coal mines in China during the period 1998‐2002. The results are provisional for two reasons: first, the closure campaign is very recent, and therefore, it is too early to judge fully the impact of closures, and the success or failure of responses to these closures; second, detailed field investigations by the authors have only just begun. This chapter comprises four main sections. The first reviews current approaches to planning for the closure of large-scale mines, and identifies a number of features that distinguish small-scale mines in the context of mine closure. The second section provides background to the closure of small-scale coal mines in China, and describes the nature of the closure campaign. The third