Local news reports said the local government’s office was crowded with people as soon as the “sell” announcement was made. After paying deposits of US$0.048 per ton in "prospecting fees", anyone could apply for prospecting rights on the 32 coalmines, Interfax said.

The 32 mines located around the Chongqing Municipality have an estimated coal output capacity of only 30,000 tons annually each.

An official from the local bureau told Interfax that both state-owned enterprises and private investors were welcome to operate them.

"Lacking the financial support from the Central Government, the move we made is meant to boost local coalmine prospecting," the official told Interfax.

The plan, which runs contrary to the official line of the Chinese government, has been met by much criticism.

One government official with the Chongqing Municipal Mineral Resources Administration told Xibu Meitan Wang, a coal news website, that the authorities should prospect a potential coalmine first, and then the reserves could be exploited after permission has been granted by the provincial ministry of land and resources, Interfax said.

Environmental groups have expressed concern the unregulated mining could result in landslides and cave-ins, and would pollute the ground water if they were not properly designed.