Since the adoption of open-door policy 30 years ago, rapid economic growth has resulted in serious resource depletion and environmental destruction, especially in mining areas. As an urgent response to this situation, the central government and the Ministry of Land and Resources (MLR) have adjusted policies with concrete and realistic actions for halting this trend of non-sustainable mining activities in China. Green Mine Campaign' is one of the actions implemented. In 2010, MLR announced the Green Mine Campaign', in which existing and new mines will be evaluated against the Green Mine Construction Standards' and certified as Green Mine' if complying with these standards. The standards cover five key aspects: the considerations of science-supported resource exploitation efficient resource utilisation standardised management environmental friendliness harmonious community relationship._x000D_
Every year, MLR reviews green mines' from all provinces. Thirty seven mines, including coal, metal, non-metal, gold, chemical industry and building materials mines, passed the review and were certified as green mines in 2010. In 2011, 187 out of 194 mines that participated in the review were certified as green mines'. These mines are viewed as good examples of sustainable mining development in China.CITATION:Liu, Y, Hu, K, Li, X, Liu, Y, Liu, D and Wang, J, 2012. The green mine campaign and sustainable mining in China, in Proceedings Life-of-Mine 2012, pp 339-342 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).