Sinocoking Coal & Coke (NASDAQ:SCOK)- a vertically-integrated coal and coke processor, today  signed:  exclusive agreement with both the Institute of Process Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the North China Institute of Science and Technology to refine and implement a technology that will be used, beginning next month, to convert the 21 million tons of coal at four SinoCoking underground mines into syngas, a clean burning fuel.

The technology will accomplish this conversion without releasing meaningful levels of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases above ground, said SinoCoking.

Sinocoking Coal & Coke – mine reopening

Located in Henan Province, these mines have been shut down for three years due to Chinese government-mandated mine consolidation guidelines. Now, however, these properties can be reactivated and their resources utilized in an environmentally friendly manner, said the company.

The first phase of the project, which will cost approximately $18 million and be funded primarily from SinoCoking’s cash reserves, is expected to be completed in February 2015 and yield a combined syngas output of 60,000 cubic meters per hour. This output will produce incremental gross profit in 2015 of from $30 to $45 million, said SinoCoking.