Inspections of Weishe’s shaft construction, ventilation, safety and extraction systems started in February. In June, the operation was designated a model mine by the Hezhang County government for modern design, safety equipment and management practises.

The mine has an approved annual production rate of 150,000 tons. With additional enhancements, it can ramp up to 450,000tpa.

Weishe’s output will be transported via Seattle-based L&L's wholesale and logistics platform to end users.

“This is another strong step forward for L&L,” director Dr Syd Peng said.

“The on-schedule completion of the construction and safety inspections at Weishe, our first project with Union Energy, represents an important milestone in our relationship. We continue to work toward the effective execution of our consolidation strategy and intend to repeat the successes of Weishe as we seek to further upgrade our mining portfolio for expanded operations.”

L&L said earlier this month that it had begun a number of recruitment, supply and community support initiatives for the Weishe coal complex.

The initiatives undertaken as part of the miner’s corporate responsibility in the region include offering local priority in recruitment and training and local priority in sourcing materials and food provisions.

L&L chairman and chief executive Dickson Lee said at the time that Weishe was steadily expanding to more than 130 workers.

“Last week our managers of Weishe mine enthusiastically made contributions to the ethnic minorities in the Guizhou Mountains,” he said.

“The social program builds strong relationships and trust, which facilitates our role as mining consolidator in China.

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.