Despite the recent wholesale closure of private coal mines in suburban Beijing, many illegal operations still exist in Fangshan district, according to Beijing News on Tuesday.

According to the Beijing Administration of Work Safety, Beijing will shut the last of its small coalmines for ecological and safety concerns by the end of this month. Most have already been closed. However, the newspaper reports that miners are still managing to extract coal from supposedly closed mines under cover of night.

A miner surnamed Zhang who used to work at legal private mines in Shijiaying town said many of his coworkers chose to leave Beijing and head for their hometown after the mine closures. But Zhang said he decided to stay and he continues to work at illegal mines.

Although illegal mines are struggling to continue to exist under Beijing government regulations, Zhang said many are still left. He claimed there are at least 150 illegal mines in Shijiaying, with 50 of them still producing coal.

While workers such as Zhang earn about 300 yuan a day, mine owners can earn 40,000 yuan a day, he claimed. The high profits are causing many to break the law, despite increasingly strict regulations brought in during the past five years.

Some miners have claimed owners are bribing people to look the other way.

Dacunjian, a valley only a few kilometers from the county's government office, appears to be one of the areas still being mined. Witnesses say it is common to hear the sounds of metal tools hammering away and catch glimpses of miners walking among the trees.

One miner claimed there are about five mines in the area and said miners work at night to extract at least 20 tons of coal a day.

However, Dong Yongli, a press official for Shijiaying town, denied any illegal mines existed, claiming the county had enforced stronger regulations and closed all private mines.

Dong told the investigating reporter to call the county director's assistant for further information and turned off his cell phone.

METRO