Four mines in Ordos city in North China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region were recently included on the list of national green mines, bringing the number of the city’s mining companies on the list to 21 and ranking first among all the cities and leagues in Inner Mongolia.

The announcement was made recently by the Ministry of Natural Resources, which added 301 enterprises onto the national green mine list. Of which, 15 mines are from Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

The Ordos honorees are the Weijiamao open-pit coal mine, the Huangyuchuan coal mine affiliated to Shenhua Yili Energy Co, the Manlailiang coal mine affiliated to Inner Mongolia Mengtai Coal Electricity Co and the Yushujing coal mine affiliated to the Inner Mongolia Shanghai Temple Mining Co.

The inclusion of more Ordos mines on the list is the result of the city’s continued efforts to implement the Opinions on Accelerating the Construction of Green Mines, which was issued by the former Ministry of Land and Resources in 2017 to promote the development of environmentally friendly mines as a "national action."

There are currently 634 mining enterprises in Ordos city, including 320 coal mines and 314 non-coal mines.

Ordos has built 99 green mines, including 81 coal mines and 18 non-coal mines, accounting for 26 percent of the green mines in Inner Mongolia.

Also, 74 mines have passed the assessment and acceptance process and achieved the construction standards of autonomous region-level green mines. These facilities are awaiting a formal announcement by the Natural Resources Department of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Moving forward, Ordos will further promote the construction of green mines. 

By the end of 2024, all coal mines in production must meet the green mine construction standards, and mining enterprises that do not meet the green mine standards will gradually withdraw from the market.