On Monday, the company said the mine had completed a government inspection during its first few weeks of test production.

During that evaluation, the mine’s air ventilation, construction, safety equipment and extraction practices were tested for compliance.

Chairman and chief executive officer Dickson Lee said the process had so far gone smoothly.

“Weishe's timely completion of the initial inspection is a testament to the excellent planning, hard work and dedication of our staff.”

L&L acquired a 51% stake in the anthracite complex in late January.

It is now making plans to triple the property’s annual production to 450,000 tons.

Earlier this year, L&L said the mine hosted 19 million tons of reserves over an area of 1.8sq.km and was expected to provide it with $3.75 million of cash flow in the 12 months ending April 30, 2013.

In related company news, officials have appointed 25-year international sales veteran Zhi Xie as senior sales director in Guizhou province.

He will work to expand L&L's coal sales and marketing efforts at Weishe as well as at the company’s wholesale outfits.

The producer also tapped two US-trained bilingual financial managers for its Guizhou operations, including Hubert Chen from its Seattle office and Lin Po, who joined L&L from a major US company’s Shanghai office.