Approval Granted for the Coal Mining Project Supporting the Yiwu Coal Chemical Industry in Xinjiang

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According to news from August 2, the first-phase project of the Baishihu open-pit coal mine in the Naomao Lake mining area of Guanghui Energy in Xinjiang has officially received approval from the **Energy Bureau – in the form of a document issued by the **Development and Reform Commission titled “Approval for the First-Phase Project of the Baishihu Open-Pit Coal Mine in the Naomao Lake Mining Area of Xinjiang” (Document No. Fa Gai Neng Yuan 1354). The approval document states that, in order to advance the development of large-scale coal bases in Xinjiang, ensure a stable supply of energy, optimize the coal industry structure, and promote the integrated development of coal chemistry, it is approved to carry out coal production capacity replacement and to construct the first phase of the Baishihu open-pit coal mine project. The project owner is Yiwu Guanghui Mining Co., Ltd. As the main coal mine in Yiwu County, the Bai Shi Lake open-pit coal mine will, upon approval of the project, provide a reliable source of resources for establishing a **coal chemical industry demonstration zone and a base for transporting coal from Xinjiang to other regions in the autonomous region. It is reported that the first phase of the Baishi Lake open-pit coal mine project has an annual production capacity of 6 million tons, and open-pit mining methods will be used, with a coal processing plant constructed as part of the facility. The project site is located in Yiwu County, Hami City, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The total investment for the first phase of the coal mine project is 2.965 billion yuan (excluding mining rights fees). Of this amount, 900 million yuan represents the equity capital, accounting for 30.35% of the total investment, and this capital is provided by the project owner using its own funds ； The 2.065 billion yuan beyond the capital amount will be financed through bank loans. Xinjiang Guanghui New Energy Co., Ltd. has invested in a project in Naomaohu Town, Yiwu County, Hami, to produce 1.38 million tons of methanol and 840,000 tons of dimethyl ether per year, as well as 550 million cubic meters of coal-based liquefied natural gas. The company plans to invest 60 billion to 65 billion yuan in four phases, over a period of 10 years, to build a coal chemical and coal-to-natural gas production facility with an annual output of 4.38 million tons of methanol and 2.69 million tons of dimethyl ether, as well as 8 billion cubic meters of coal-to-natural gas, thereby establishing a large-scale industry base for coal chemicals and coal-to-natural gas production. As the first coal-to-methanol/dimethyl ether project to be launched in the autonomous region, it was designated by the **department in charge of development and reform** as a model project for coal chemical industry. The Xinjiang Guanghui Coal Grading, Quality Improvement and Comprehensive Utilization Project is located in the Naomaohu Industrial Park in Yiwu County, Hami Region, Xinjiang, 9 kilometers southeast of Naomaohu Town, on the east side of the Yinao Highway. The project is a large-scale coal chemical project with an planned investment of 10.7 billion yuan. It is scheduled to be built in two phases; the first phase includes a lignite dry distillation unit with an annual capacity of 10 million tons, a hydrogen production facility using raw coal gas at a rate of 135,000 standard cubic meters per hour, a crude aromatic hydrocarbons hydrogenation unit with an annual capacity of 1.6 million tons (including a phenol extraction unit), as well as related supporting facilities ； Phase II of the project includes a 20 million tons per year coal gasification unit, a hydrogen production facility using gasified gas at 120,000 standard cubic meters per hour (including an LNG facility), a 1.6 million tons per year crude aromatic hydrocarbons hydrogenation complex (including a phenol extraction unit), as well as related supporting facilities.