Official state media outlet Xinhua said 191 people had been punished by legal or administrative measures and 1731 tonnes of minerals had been confiscated.

Xinhuaquoted a spokesman for the Shanxi province Land Resources Bureau as saying, “the crackdown was targetted at the unlicensed operation of mines and illegal mining under the cover of projects concerning ecological restoration, village resettlements and rural development”.

Last week, 44 miners died after an accident at the Xiaojiawan coal mine in Sichuan province, and a blast on Sunday in the Gaokeng coal mine claimed 15 lives.