As a two-and-a-half-year national campaign to stop the unauthorized exploitation of mineral deposits is being pursued by Ministry of Land and Resources (MLR) they highlighted eight cases of illegal mining.  

It's the first time the MLR, the nation's top land and resources watchdog, has disclosed the progress of their campaign since a new policy on calling a halt to illegal mining was adopted in early 2005.

From 2005 to June 2006, land and resources departments at all levels have cracked down on 70,360 cases of unauthorized mining and illegal excavations, the ministry said.

They've also confiscated 82.14 million tons of illegal ore, punished 2,660 public servants involved in illegal mining and transferred 1,438 suspects to judicial departments for criminal investigation.

The ministry deliberately targeted the eight illegal mining cases which are in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong, Henan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan and Gansu provinces.

In one case, Jiang Shunyi, a resident of Taizhou in Jiangsu Province, was jailed for two years and fined 200,000 yuan (US$24,660) for tapping and selling clay without a certificate, according to a MLR press release.

From June 2003 to February 2004, Jiang was accused of illicitly exploiting 147,300 cubic meters of clay which is widely used in making bricks, tiles and pottery, said the land and resources bureau in Taizhou.

In another case the city government of Hezuo in Gansu Province was accused of illegally approving exploitation rights for nine companies from July 2004 to October 2005, according to the news release.

(China Daily August 9, 2006)