China taps thinner coal seams as energy security drives push for fossil fuel

New machine exploits ultra-thin coal beds at record rate – a major advantage as China turns to harder-to-mine deposits

About 20 per cent of the country’s coal reserves are found in thin seams, but poor conditions and low profitability discourage extraction

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More than 70 of China’s new coal seam shearers are in use by major mining companies in the country. Photo: Weibo

Published: 11:00am, 10 Aug 2023

China has built a powerful machine for exploiting ultra-thin coal beds, achieving record output with the device as the country turns to harder-to-mine deposits of the fossil fuel to ensure energy security.

The coal seam shearer, developed by the Shanghai Research Institute of China Coal Technology and Engineering Group Corporation (CCTEG), can be used on a coal bed as thin as 1.3 metres (4.3 feet), according to state media.

More than 70 of the machines have been deployed by major coal mining companies in mainland China.

At a mine run by China’s National Energy Group, the device achieved an unprecedented 2.6 million tonnes (2.9 million tons) in annual output, according to a report by state-run newspaper Science and Technology Daily on Tuesday.

It has a designed annual capacity of 3 million tonnes – three times the output of similar machines for mining thin coal beds. These rival devices are also unable to work in seams less than 1.6 metres thick.

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