Everything succeeds with preparation and fails without it. Environmental impact assessment (EIA) for coal mining area planning—serving as a prerequisite for large-scale coal resource development—must evaluate ecological sensitivity at a macro scale, identifying critical “no-go or restricted zones” such as water sources, nature reserves, permanent basic farmland, and ecologically fragile areas. Often operating within the framework of China’s “Three Lines and One List” policy, these assessments face significant approval challenges and involve numerous stakeholders, demanding exceptional insight, innovation, and balancing skills.

For many years, Xi’an Research Institute of China Coal Technology & Engineering Group (CCRI) has been deeply engaged in EIAs for coal mining areas. From undertaking China’s very first mining-area planning EIA to establishing an integrated “consulting–R&D–engineering” industrial chain for ecological protection in mining regions, CCRI Xi’an has consistently upheld its mission: “To serve as environmental guardians for coal development and pioneers of technical innovation for mining-area ecological protection.”

Top-level Design: Mapping the Blueprint for Ecological Protection

Ning Jianhong, Technical Lead for the Phase I Planning EIA of Yushen Mining Area, still vividly recalls the national review meeting in 2007 for China’s inaugural mining-area planning EIA: “We were truly feeling our way across the river by touching stones. Previously, we only conducted project-level EIAs. Facing a nearly 900-square-kilometer mining region for the first time—with no precedents to follow—and dealing with sensitive environmental features like water sources, nature reserves, and water conservation zones, plus critical infrastructure such as railways, highways, high-voltage transmission lines, gas wells, and the Shaanxi-Beijing gas pipeline—we felt uncertain.” Yet their confidence came from CCRI Xi’an’s strength as a comprehensive research institute specializing in geological assurance for mining. The institute doesn’t just treat “existing illnesses” but also prevents “future ones”; it examines not only the “external symptoms” but also the “internal causes.” Leveraging expertise in hydrogeology, drilling, geophysics, and geology, the team conducted holistic diagnostics—not only identifying potential “environmental diseases” (pollution, ecological damage) but also pinpointing root causes and prescribing targeted “treatments” (environmental measures). This provided a scientific basis for releasing coal production capacity and offered robust solutions for ecological protection in Yellow River Basin mining areas.

Since then, CCRI Xi’an has successfully completed more than ten mining-area planning EIAs—including Phases IV, III, Yonglong, Miaohagu, southern Shenfu, Xinmin, and southern Yuheng mining areas—and revised 12 provincial mining-area planning EIAs in Shaanxi Province (67% of the total). These efforts have covered over 100 large-scale mines with an annual coal production capacity of approximately 250 million tons, effectively unlocking high-quality production capacity, facilitating orderly capacity increases for guaranteed-supply coal mines, and providing solid technical support for green, low-carbon development of regional coal industries.

Innovation-led Approach: Diagnosing Pathways to Green Mines

The project teams at CCRI Xi’an consistently adhere to the principle of “guiding ecological protection through innovative concepts and enabling planning implementation through technological advancement,” continuously drawing “green development philosophies” from scientific innovation and deriving “integrated solutions” directly from coalfield operations. Xie Gangfeng, an EIA engineer, notes: “Water resources are scarce in northern Shaanxi, vegetation coverage is low, and ecological carrying capacity is weak. Once damaged, recovery is extremely difficult. The ‘destroy first, restore later’ approach simply doesn’t work. At that time, pressure to secure coal supply was immense—mine representatives stayed with us day and night, essentially monitoring our progress. Especially during review stages, we often worked through the night to balance diverse stakeholder demands and meticulously explain our proposals.”

Developing a planning EIA is essentially about finding the “optimal solution” for mine development. By planning ahead, the team established unified mine-water treatment and reuse systems across entire mining areas, replacing the previous inefficient model where each individual mine operated in isolation with redundant treatment facilities. This shift achieved economies of scale and significantly reduced future environmental remediation and restoration costs from a societal perspective. Innovatively applying the concept of ecological carrying capacity in planning EIAs also contributed to the formulation of national groundwater EIA guidelines. Through “water-conserving coal mining,” they resolved the “coal-water conflict”: in areas where Quaternary phreatic aquifers could be hydraulically connected due to mining, tailored “water-conserving mining” strategies were developed based on local geological and hydrological conditions, enabling safe, efficient longwall mining while minimizing damage to aquifers. Additionally, “backfill mining” addressed the challenge of solid waste by creating a closed-loop system—“gangue → backfill material → underground support”—yielding cascading benefits: reduced emissions, minimized subsidence, land conservation, and water protection. This helped realize a modern mining vision: “mining without visible coal, using water without depleting it, producing coal without burning it, and storing gangue underground instead of on the surface.”

Guided by planning EIAs, nearly 30 mines have been recognized as National Green Mines, ensuring efficient coal extraction while safeguarding green mountains and clear waters.

Engineering Implementation: Protecting Green Mountains and Clear Waters

Committed to making planning EIAs actionable—not just “drawn on paper or hung on walls”—CCRI Xi’an actively translates blueprints into engineering practice, making ecological gains in mining areas tangible and visible. Nan Shenghui, Chief Expert (Level I) at CCRI Xi’an, explains: “Over the years, we’ve built a comprehensive technical system for water hazard prevention and water resource protection throughout the entire mine lifecycle—from emergency rescue and proactive treatment to integrated management, utilization, and recharge—shifting the paradigm of mine water management from mere ‘disaster control’ to balanced ‘protection, treatment, utilization, and storage.’”

For open-pit mines affected by perennial river-wetland inflows beyond their boundaries—which threaten both safe mining operations and regional hydrology—the institute developed a “Curtain Grouting Water Interception System.” Applied in Dayan mining area, this technology raised groundwater levels outside the curtain wall by restoring them to ecological thresholds across an area of ~20 km², resolving local herders’ water access issues and increasing vegetation diversity by over 15%. To address water scarcity and ecological fragility in western mining regions, they pioneered ecological recharge technology using treated mine water, demonstrated in Yimin mining area, where groundwater levels rose by nearly 2 meters post-recharge, achieving stable aquifer recovery. For regions with significant seasonal fluctuations in water availability, they developed off-site mine water storage technology, successfully implemented at Baorixile mining area: surplus winter mine water is stored and later released in summer for ecological use, boosting overall mine water utilization efficiency to 95%.

Balancing protection with development—and development with protection—CCRI Xi’an acts not only as an enabler of safe, efficient coal extraction through geological assurance but also as a guardian of coalfield ecosystems. Looking ahead, guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, CCRI Xi’an will remain rooted in coalfields and dedicated to serving the industry, striving to become the national leader in mining-area planning EIAs.