Biz Unusual

Former pit owners to start search for new cash

By WU WENCONG (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-06-24 11:28

Debris from a coal mine at Da'anshan town, which once belonged to Zhang.

Shanxi province is associated with its wealthy coalmine owners who seem to spend money like water, but Beijing's coalmine owners have also extracted a tidy profit, even if they like to remain less ostentatious.

Wang Xiyou, the owner of Xinqiao coalmine, was very cautious when talking about his business.

"If I had made a fortune from the mine, I would donate it to the state, leaving just enough for me to live on," said Wang.

But one villager, who preferred not to be named, said, "Wang made more than a hundred million yuan during his three-year contract."

"He has a villa with courtyards in Liangxiang town," she told METRO, and added that he also had several apartments in Liangxiang town, which is the political and economic center of Fangshan district.

Wang himself remains reticent about the money he has made from the mine. However, the thick gold necklace he wears and the Audi A6 parked outside his office suggests he is not doing too badly.

"A hundred million yuan over three years is a pretty handsome profit for a coalmine owner, even in Shanxi," said a former Shanxi mine owner surnamed Gong.

Born in Da'anshan town in Fangshan district, Wang is now in his 40s and has worked in mining for six years. Three years ago, he acquired the management contract for Xinqiao coalmine, the last coalmine in town, from the local government.

Local residents from Qiaomeijian village, where Xinqiao coalimine is located, said Wang made great efforts to run the mine, building housing reserved for miners and cementing the village roads.

The mine used to have more than 60 workers, working three shifts a day, but it was closed on April 26, as part of the plan to close all the private coalmines in Beijing.

Though Xinqiao was the most profitable coalmine in the village, the failure to extend the contract still rankles in Wang's mind.

"I made an application to extend the contract, but got no reply. Then I was told to move all the equipment before April 15," he said.

Wang is now the nationwide agent for an energy saving device. When asked whether this new business compared with his successful mining operation, Wang replied with a smile.

"The enterprise has just won a prize at the first 'China energy saving contribution award presentation ceremony', which was held on May 27."

Wang is not the only person in Da'anshan town to make money from mining.

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A villager surnamed Zhang said she had made almost two million yuan within seven years from her mine.

In contrast with Xinqiao, Zhang's mine was much smaller, with only 20 workers, producing at most 100 tons daily.

"My coalmine was not so well located as Wang's. It had much less coal and more hard rocks," said Zhang.

The Da'anshan district government closed Zhang's coalmine in 2005. She now lives on her pension and her son and daughter-in-law's salary.

"Da'anshan town still has plenty of coal, but it all belongs to the country now," Zhang said.

Wang shared the same view as Zhang about the abundance of the town's coal reserves.

"I know it because I grew up in the town," said Wang. "If the mining was restarted today, the coal in Da'anshan town would not be exhausted for 100 years."