Research on the potential and strategy for coal resources exploitation in Xinjiang

Abstract

In view of the uniqueness of the occurrence conditions of coal resources in Xinjiang and the fragility of the ecological environment in the coal occurrence area, it is urgent to develop coal resources in Xinjiang scientifically. Therefore, in this paper, the geological occurrence conditions, hydrogeological conditions, physical geography and ecological environment conditions of coal resources in Xinjiang were briefly discussed, and the exploitation potential of coal resources was analyzed. The results show that the coal resources in Xinjiang are extremely abundant, with an estimated coal resource of 2.19 trillion tonnes in the entire region, accounting for more than 40% of the total estimated coal resources in China. There are 24 coal fields in Xinjiang with estimated resource levels exceeding 10 billion tonnes, of which 5 have estimated resource levels exceeding 100 billion tonnes, 8 have estimated resource levels between 40 billion−100 billion tonnes, and 11 have estimated resource levels between 10 billion−40 billion tonnes. Among the potential coal resources, shallow resources below 1000 meters account for 52.8%. The main coal rank of Xinjiang’s coal resources is low-rank bituminous coal and medium-rank bituminous coal, fol-lowed by high-rank bituminous coal in middling coal rank coal, while lignite in low-rank coal, ultra-high rank bituminous coal in middling coal rank coal and anthracite in high-rank coal have extremely limited distribution range and quantity, accounting for a very low proportion of the total resources. Taking into account the transportation of coal from Xinjiang, the transmission of electricity from Xinjiang, the transmission of natural gas from the west to the east, and the local coal chemical industry plan, it is expected that Xinjiang’s coal production capacity will exceed 800 million tonnes by 2035. On this basis, an ecological environment carrying capacity evaluation index system was constructed, and the ecological environment carrying capacity of the five major coal mining areas planned and constructed in Xinjiang was evaluated. The results show that the overall ecological environment carrying capacity of the coal resource areas in Xinjiang is at a medium to low level, and the average ecological environment carrying capacity of the five major coal mining areas is ranked as Yili (0.42)>Kubai (0.38)>Hefeng (0.31)>Zhundong (0.25)>Tuha (0.22). It shows a decreasing trend from west to east. In response to the conditions and potential of coal resource development in Xinjiang, strategies have been proposed to optimize the layout of coal resource development, promote mining technology upgrading, promote intelligent mining technology, strengthen the concept of green mining, and expand diversified channels for coal utilization.

Keywords

• xinjiang coal development
• potential
• ecological carrying capacity
• development strategy