Building a national green mine to help impoverished villages get rid of poverty and become rich

Over the years, the company has adhered to the guiding principles of "alleviating the worries of the Party and the government and solving the difficulties of the impoverished people" and the pragmatic approach of "making up for deficiencies and acting within our means." It has taken the initiative to assume responsibilities and made positive contributions in industrial poverty alleviation, education-based poverty alleviation, and charitable public welfare. Before entering Jianning County, the company's leaders had been engaged in the mining of granite for decorative purposes for more than 10 years, possessing rich experience in all aspects of open-pit mining. At the same time, they are also deeply aware of the untouchable red line of environmental protection, coupled with the inherent perception of granite mining in various sectors of society. In the public eye, granite mines are always considered dirty, messy, and chaotic. Therefore, to mine in Jianning, it is necessary to attach great importance to environmental protection and resolutely build a green and sustainable mine without sparing any effort. To this end, the company has gone everywhere to learn and discuss methods for building a green mine. Everything is difficult at the beginning, but planning comes first. Based on sufficient demonstration, the management and experts hired by the company conducted overall planning for the mine, separating the mining area, vegetation restoration area, office area, and living area to ensure safe and civilized production and eliminate potential safety hazards as much as possible. This plan was approved by the county's competent departments: the Economic and Trade Bureau (now the Economic and Information Bureau), the Environmental Protection Bureau (now the Ecological Environment Bureau), and the Land and Resources Bureau (now the Natural Resources Bureau).

The company's mine began mining at the beginning of 2006, and ecological vegetation restoration began at the end of 2006 (before the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China). For 19 years, we have never neglected environmental protection, always keeping this string tight, constantly reminding ourselves that environmental protection is a lifeline, and since we are doing it, we must not leave ourselves with regrets. For 19 years of mining, we have always refused to dump waste from the front of the mine. The vegetation on the original waste dump and the nearby original ecological forest are already indistinguishable; those who come for the first time will mistakenly think that the tailings from Fuqiang's more than ten years have "evaporated." The company's top priority before starting work each year is to plant trees and grass on the mountain. In the early stages, when stripping the mine's surface, the soil and waste rock were separated and stacked; later, the waste rock from mining was placed in another place for unified stacking. After a layer of tailings was accumulated, the previously stored soil was covered on top to ensure its firmness and solidity; the slope of the accumulated tailings must meet the requirements to prevent landslides; after covering the soil, trees were planted to maintain water and soil balance. The mine has built more than 10 kilometers of drainage ditches, and each section of the ditches has settling ponds that are cleaned regularly. Regarding mine wastewater treatment, we built a wastewater treatment plant at the beginning of mine mining, equipped with a wastewater treatment tower and several wastewater sedimentation tanks. We built two dams at the bottom of the mine's front, and natural water from the upper dam is transported to the downstream of the wastewater treatment plant through pipelines; mine production wastewater is collected in the next dam and then transported to the wastewater treatment plant through pipelines for treatment and discharge up to standard. Later, the wastewater treatment equipment and site were continuously upgraded and transformed. Now, a wastewater treatment tank with a capacity of 3,000 cubic meters has been built; 22 stepped wastewater sedimentation tanks, 16 emergency wastewater collection tanks with a capacity of 1,800 cubic meters; 4 sludge sedimentation tanks with a capacity of 1,000 cubic meters; a daily 600-ton wastewater sedimentation tower, one set of semi-automatic and fully automatic sludge dewatering machines each, and rain and sewage separation pipelines and dams have been built at the bottom of the mine to ensure centralized collection of wastewater. The entire mine area has hardened roads and is equipped with a dedicated sprinkler truck and dust suppression fog cannons. The mine currently has 22 stone cutting machines, with 20 operating normally and 2 as backup machines. The daily wastewater production is: 3T/h × 20h × 20 machines = 1200 tons. The existing mine wastewater treatment equipment has a wastewater treatment capacity of 4500 tons/day. The wastewater is collected in the dam and enters the wastewater treatment plant through pipelines. After purification by the wastewater treatment tower and multi-stage sedimentation, it is discharged up to standard and reused; the sludge is treated by a dewatering machine, centrally collected, and made into environmentally friendly bricks for reuse. Management personnel are on duty 24 hours a day, are familiar with emergency plans, and effectively prevent the sudden outflow of wastewater on rainy days. The mine has invested more than 35 million yuan in the construction of the wastewater treatment plant, with a total capacity of 6400 cubic meters. The company invested more than 30 million yuan to build a crushed stone plant to comprehensively utilize the waste rock and slag produced from mining and processing, using it for the infrastructure construction of railways, highways, and residential houses, achieving the complete utilization of mine resources. To eliminate road dust pollution, ensure road traffic safety, and address phenomena such as road congestion, more than 30 million yuan was invested to expand and harden the mine roads to the standard of a Class IV highway, widening the entire highway to 8 meters and fully cement-hardening it. Both sides of the highway are greened according to municipal road standards; greening, warning signs, and guardrails are installed along the road to effectively prevent water and soil loss and eliminate safety hazards.

After years of unremitting efforts, the company's mine was included in the national list of green mines by the Ministry of Natural Resources on January 8, 2020. Gradually, the company's advanced deeds in building green mines have attracted great attention and importance from all sectors of society. This typical experience has been promoted throughout the province and the country, and the support from all levels has continuously injected vitality into the company's development and growth. The company's economic strength has increased year by year, making greater contributions to the development of the county's economy and providing strong support for the company's targeted poverty alleviation work. From December 17 to 19, 2018, the National Green Mine Exchange and Discussion Conference and the National Stone Materials Industry Green Mine Standard Review Conference were held in Jianning. More than 300 people, including leaders from the China Stone Materials Association and governments across the country, elites and leaders in the stone materials industry, and colleagues, attended the conference. At this conference, Fuqiang Stone Materials won the only "National Demonstration Unit for Green Mine Construction in the Stone Materials Industry" honor. On the morning of October 18, 2020, the National Stone Materials Industry Green Mine Construction and Industry Work Experience Exchange Conference, hosted by the China Stone Materials Association and co-organized by the Fujian Provincial Stone Materials Industry Association and Fujian Fuqiang Stone Materials Co., Ltd., was successfully held in Jianning County, Fujian Province. More than 100 people, including representatives from stone materials associations and enterprises across the country, attended the conference. After the conference, everyone visited the Fuqiang Stone Materials National Green Mine. On October 29, 2021, the sixth bi-annual meeting of the Provincial Mining Association and the green mine award ceremony were held in Jianning County. More than 100 people, including personnel from relevant departments of the Provincial Department of Natural Resources and representatives of green mine enterprises, attended the award ceremony and visited the green mine construction site of Fuqiang Stone Materials Company. On June 8, 2023, the Green Mining Development Ten Thousand Miles Journey activity, hosted by the China Mining Union, co-organized by the Fujian Provincial Mining Association, and undertaken by Fujian Fuqiang Stone Materials Co., Ltd., was held in Jianning County. Leaders from the China Mining Union, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Fujian Provincial Department of Natural Resources, the Fujian Provincial Mining Association, the Sanming Municipal Department of Natural Resources, and the Jianning County People's Government, as well as more than 100 representatives from geological exploration units, provincial mining associations, and mining enterprises across the country, gathered together to discuss and exchange practical experiences and innovative measures for green mining development and mine ecological restoration, promoting the transformation and upgrading of the mining industry. At the exchange meeting, Peng Qiming, Party Secretary and President of the China Mining Union, Wang Feng, Deputy Director of the Mineral Resources Protection and Supervision Department of the Ministry of Natural Resources, and Chen Mingjie, Director of the Land Space Ecological Restoration Office of the Fujian Provincial Department of Natural Resources, respectively delivered speeches on natural stone materials and economic and social development, the direction and path of green development of China's mining industry, and the construction of green mines and the practice of green development. Yu Zezao, President of the Fujian Provincial Mining Association, presided over the meeting. Li Yangsheng, Deputy County Magistrate, delivered a speech at the meeting. Zhou Liping, director of the County Investment Promotion Center, gave a promotion speech on investment attraction. Peng Yibin, chairman of Fujian Fuqiang Stone Materials Co., Ltd., gave an introduction to the experience of green mine construction. In the on-site observation session, participants went to the national-level green mine of Fujian Fuqiang Stone Materials to conduct on-site inspections of the good experiences and practices in mine mining, environmental governance, and harmonious coexistence between mines and land. Everyone exchanged ideas enthusiastically and gained a lot. From June 15-16, 2024, the Fujian Provincial Stone Materials Industry Association held the first chairman's office meeting and branch meeting of 2024 in Jianning County, co-organized by Fujian Fuqiang Stone Materials Co., Ltd. Chairman Cai Xiaoguo and more than 30 vice chairmen, secretaries-general, and deputy secretaries-general from all over Fujian gathered in Jianning to visit the Fuqiang Stone Materials green mine for inspection and exchange, and to plan the development of the industry in 2024.

From 2017 to the present, Fuqiang Stone Materials has received approximately 1200 visits from all over the country for on-site inspections and learning at the mine, with approximately 13,000 person-times, playing a positive leading role in the construction of green mines in the stone materials industry across the country.

Currently, Fuqiang Stone Materials mine has built the Twenty-Four Filial Piety Garden, Fuqiang Green Ecological Road, mine swimming pool, and mine leisure wooden houses, transforming it into a popular check-in point with fresh air and beautiful scenery. The "Jianning County Minjiang Zhengyuan Grotto Cultural Creative Tourism Resort Construction Project" in the mine has been included in the provincial key projects. In the future, the company will strive to build the mine into the Minjiang Zhengyuan Grotto Cultural Creative Tourism Resort, achieving comprehensive transformation and upgrading.

Emphasizing Categorized Guidance to Aid Poverty Alleviation

While seeking its own development, Fuqiang Stone actively focuses on targeted poverty alleviation, assisting poor households in escaping poverty according to their specific circumstances, donating to local education, assisting local people in building roads, constructing farmland irrigation canals, etc., enabling local residents to achieve prosperity through hard work at home, and helping the two impoverished villages (Xiuzhu Village and Huangling Village) in the area to be lifted out of poverty.