Police in northern China's Shaanxi Province have offered 100,000 yuan (US$13,000) in cash rewards for any clues that help crack the case of 2,464 detonators stolen from a local coal mine Saturday.

The Shaanxi-based Sanqin Daily newspaper reports that miners drew all the 2,800 detonators and 28 boxes of explosives from the Xingelao coal mine's warehouse in Shenmu County on Thursday and Friday. By Saturday afternoon, the miners had used 336 of the detonators. But, instead of returning the remaining ones to the warehouse, they stored them in six locations in the coal mine.

The detonators were found stolen on Sunday morning. The coal mine informed police on Monday afternoon after failing to locate them.

The provincial police have been involved in the investigation of the case. Remote detection devices have been used, but, so far, to no avail.

The police said they suspect the detonators were stolen by someone who is familiar with the coal mine. They also expressed worries that the detonators might pose a potential security threat to the general public, as the thieves may sell them for profit on the black market.

The report said the coal mine stopped production in early February but did not return the detonators and explosives to the civilian explosive firm from which it got them. The local coal industry bureau, which was not informed of the case when it occurred, has ordered the coal mine to be closed.

(CRI March 23, 2007)