The recent Chilean mine disaster has sparked new fresh debate in China regarding work safety and rescue work in the domestic mining industry. China has closed illegal small mines with lax safety or absorbed them into state-owned companies. Chinese mines are still the world’s deadliest.
In October, a gas leak at a Pingyu Coal & Electric owned coal mine in Yuzhou City of central China's Henan Province killed 37 miners. To reduce the human costs a group of Chinese scientists are working on automated mining methods, such as robots or mining cars controlled from the surface. China's mining problems reflect a general lack of safety awareness.
Tired? A coal mine operator in Baise city, southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, has set up a cafe in the Donghuai Coal Mine as a part of the measures taken to improve underground working conditions, Xinhua reporters saw.
More than 2,600 miners were killed in China's mining accidents last year. Additionally, industry authorities and safety watchdog officials have ordered mine bosses to double their efforts to improve safety measures and underground working conditions. Coal miners may soon have new guardian angels in China in robotic form.