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XINING, Aug. 12-- Years of exploitative illegal mining near a national nature reserve in northwest China has taken a toll on the alpine grassland and wetland, posing a threat to the environment of a key water conservation area, an investigation by Xinhua News Agency has found. For 14 years, the Qinghai Xingqing Industry & Trade Engineering Group Corporation, a private enterprise headquartered in Qinghai, has been suspected of illegally mining more than 26 million tonnes of coal in the Juhugeng coal mine in the Muli mining area, raking in more than 10 billion yuan (about 1.43 billion U.S. dollars), according to the investigation. The reckless mining continued for years despite two rounds of inspections by central authorities targeting environmental violations in the Qilian Mountains, and the banning of all mining activities in Muli by authorities in Qinghai Province, the investigation showed. The investigation was conducted over a span of more than two years by Economic Information Daily, a newspaper affiliated with Xinhua. A Chinese-language report was published last week, prompting authorities in Qinghai to launch an investigation into the incident. At a press conference on Sunday, Li Jiexiang, executive deputy governor of Qinghai, said preliminary investigations found that Xingqing is suspected of violating laws and regulations. Two officials in Haixi Mongolian and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Qinghai have been removed from office for dereliction. Ma Shaowei, chairman of Xingqing, has been put under criminal coercive measures by the police, according to the press conference. | 
