BEIJING: * China's National Energy Administration said on Friday it has given approval for a new open-pit coal mine project in the Xinjiang region

* The open-pit coal mine will have an annual capacity of 4 million tonnes with total investment at 854 million yuan ($126 million)

* The energy administration said it has also given the green light for a coal mine expansion project in Xinjiang worth 1.06 billion yuan

* The expansion will raise total capacity at the project to 5 million tonnes per year from 900,000 tonnes per year previously