Zhaojin Mining Industry Co, a gold miner from East China which kicked off its offering ahead of China Coal Energy, has had its institutional portion oversubscribed more than 100 times, forcing its underwriters to close the book two days ahead of schedule.

State-owned China Coal Energy will fix its offering price on December 13 and start market trading on December 19.

It has been reported that China Coal Energy has already agreed to sell stakes worth as much as US$125 million to US private equity firm First Reserve Corp and American Metals & Coal International, a US mining firm.

The company's preliminary prospectus disclosed that it has earmarked up to 20 per cent of the offering for a number of Hong Kong tycoons enthusiastic about new listings.

Shenhua Energy, China's top coal miner, produced 121 million tons of coal last year, followed by China Coal Energy at 50.12 million tons, while Yanzhou Coal Mining had an output of 34.7 million tons.

Coal accounts for more than 70 per cent of the mainland's total energy consumption, and domestic output continues to increase rapidly as energy demands soars.

Demand for the fuel may surge 8.5 per cent to 2.51 billion tons by next year, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.

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