TAIYUAN, March 1 (Xinhua) -- North China's coal-rich Shanxi Province has issued its first mining project license in 13 years following an industry reshuffle to eliminate outdated coal production capacity.

The provincial land and resources department said on Thursday that it has given the go-ahead to the Dongda Coal Mine Project operated by the Jinneng Group Co. Ltd.

The company is the result of a merger between Shanxi Coal Transportation Group Co. Ltd. and Shanxi International Power Group in 2013.

The department said the Dongda Coal Mine will be one of 19 new coal mine projects expected to showcase the province's advanced coal mining production capacity.

The mine, located in Qinshui County, will begin production in 2021 with an annual capacity of 5 million tonnes of coal.

With proven coal reserves of 270.9 billion tonnes, Shanxi produced more than 16.2 billion tonnes of coal from 1949 to 2014, accounting for one-quarter of the total coal output across the country.

Over the past five years, Shanxi has eliminated 51 million tonnes of outdated coal production capacity and closed 56 mines, according to the department.

By the end of 2017, Shanxi had 615 coal mines with a total production capacity of 909.8 million tonnes a year. Among them, new and advanced production capacity accounted for over 40 percent of the total. The province aims to boost the rate to over 60 percent by 2020.