KEMEROVO, March 6 (RIA Novosti, Yelena Popova) - The administration of the Kemerovo Region in southwest Siberia, which contains one of the world's largest coal basins, has proposed that coal companies and mine owners close ageing mines that pose a safety threat to workers, the first deputy governor of the region said Monday.
Valentin Mazikin, who also chairs the local committee for disaster prevention, said at a meeting on the recent fatal accident at the Krasnoarmeyskaya mine in Kiselyovsk that workers at mines targeted for closure should be given work at other, safer companies.
The accident on March 4, apparently caused by a methane explosion, occurred when four miners were installing a protective fence. One died instantly and another in hospital; the two others were wounded. It was the latest in a series of recent coalmining accidents in Siberia.
Mazikin said managers and owners of coal companies operating in the region had been sent telegrams demanding that the events in Kiselyovsk be investigated, and security measures in mines be tightened.
The local administration's press service said: "At the time of the accident at the Krasnoarmeyskaya mine in Kiselyovsk, there was less than one million tons of coal to be processed - this implies a maximum of one more year of coal production. And with future mining work, more workers could be killed or wounded."
"Out of the hundreds of coal mining companies in Kuzbass [the Kuznetsk Basin], only 5% can be said to have low potential. We are relying on modern companies, of which there are more than enough in the region," the press service said.
The Kuznetsk Basin, one of the world's largest coal basins, produced 160 million metric tons of coal in 2005, an all-time record for the region.
Kuzbass' share in Russia's overall coal production has increased from 43.7% to 56% since 1999, according to the regional administration.
