The unlicensed mine is in Xiangfen County, in Shanxi Province.
As for the smaller, unlicensed mines, says an ethnic Mongol academic, "even if the government wants to bring them under control, it can't".
In the south-eastern province of Vaupes, miners in the town of Taraira say troops stormed the unlicensed mine of El Silencio last February and destroyed its machinery.
Mr. Zhong said the state-owned mine was licensed, unlike the small unlicensed mines that account for a large share of the fatal accidents in China.
But miners are not convinced.At least 40% of the 55.9 tonnes of gold produced in 2011 were extracted from unlicensed mines, according to Mauricio Cárdenas, Colombia's mines minister.
Three days after Deputy Prime Minister Zhang Dejiang proclaimed coal mine safety to be a top priority, a gas explosion Tuesday at an unlicensed mine in Henan Province killed at least 35 workers and trapped 44 more, officials said.
HONG KONG — Three days after the rain-soaked reservoir of an unlicensed mine in central China collapsed, unleashing a cascade of iron-ore waste and mud on a village, the death toll has risen to 151.
Much of the rest — particularly some of the rarest elements most needed for products from wind turbines to Prius cars — comes from small, often unlicensed mines in southern China.
HONG KONG — Three days after one of China's senior leaders proclaimed coal mine safety to be a priority for the government, a gas explosion at an unlicensed mine in central China killed at least 35 workers and trapped 44, the national work safety agency said Tuesday.
PAGE A6 CHINA FIRES LEADERS AFTER DEATHS China's state news agency announced that the governor and vice governor of Shanxi province lost their jobs after at least 254 villagers died last week when their homes were engulfed by a cascade of muddy iron ore waste from the reservoir of an unlicensed mine.
