Construction began on September 28 on the Darlabute No.1 coal mine in the Baiyanghe mining area of Tacheng, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, with an annual capacity of 10 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa).

The project is a major coal mine jointly developed by Anhui provincial state-owned Huaibei Mining Group and Xinjiang Tianye Group, a key enterprise under the 8th Division of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. It is also one of Xinjiang's key modern large-scale coal capacity projects.

The mine field covers 171.45 square kilometers, with resources of 2.10 billion tonnes and recoverable reserves of 1.18 billion tonnes. The construction scale is 10 Mtpa, comprising 6 Mtpa of state-approved conventional capacity and 4 Mtpa of reserve capacity. It mainly extracts No. 41 long-flame coal, which can be widely used in thermal power generation, residential heating, coal chemical production and building materials, with broad market applications.

The project includes supporting facilities across the full chain of auxiliary production, storage and transportation, environmental protection and operations, aiming to build an intelligent, green, integrated coal-chemical demonstration project for clean and efficient coal conversion. Once operational, it is expected to generate annual output value of 2.98 billion yuan and taxes and profits of 1.38 billion yuan.

During construction, Huaibei Mining Group will leverage its technical expertise in coal mining and coal chemical production and its refined management capabilities, while Xinjiang Tianye Group will draw on local policy support, mineral resources and market channels to achieve complementary advantages and synergies, creating a new model for cooperation between the Corps and Anhui provincial state-owned enterprises.

The project is implemented by Xinjiang Bingneng Coal Industry Co., Ltd., a joint venture between Huaibei Mining Group and Xinjiang Tianye Group established in 2023, primarily engaged in coal mining and washing under Xinjiang Tianye Group.

The Darlabute No.1 coal mine, located in the Baiyanghe mining area of Tacheng, received approval from the Department of Natural Resources of Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region in May 2026 and obtained a mining license, becoming the first mine in the mining area to secure such a license.

The Baiyanghe mining area is located in Hoboksar Mongol autonomous county, Tacheng, spanning about 144 kilometers east to west and 44 kilometers north to south, with a total area of about 3,698 square kilometers.

The mining area holds total coal resources of about 62.25 billion tonnes, of which identified resources are about 44.46 billion tonnes. The coal is mainly long-flame coal with a small amount of non-caking coal, featuring stable seams and shallow burial depth suitable for mechanized mining.

Under the latest plan, the mining area is divided into 23 mine fields, five exploration zones and one protection zone, with 21 large mines and two medium-sized mines planned. The total mine construction scale is 95.40 Mtpa, with an average production service life of 78 years. Twenty-three coal preparation plants are planned.