Beijing, Jan 19 (IANS): China's National Health Commission (NHC) on Tuesday sent an expert team to Qixia in Shandong province to guide and assist the rescue mission for the trapped gold mine workers.

The team consists of five medical experts from leading hospitals in Beijing, Xinhua news agency quoted the Commission as saying.

The NHC has sent two medical experts from Shandong to Qixia to guide in the preparation of emergency medical aid.

The blast took place on January 10, and 22 workers are trapped underground.

Tuesday's development comes after the trapped miners sent a note on Sunday, saying that 12 workers were still alive, while the state of the other 10 was unknown.

In a related development, China's National Mine Safety Administration has ordered a comprehensive inspection of the country's non-coal mines to forestall major accidents.

According to a directive issued by the administration, the campaign will last till the end of March, with efforts focusing on preventing the occurrence of severe accidents including collapses in mined-out areas and explosions.

In recent years, the workplace safety situation of mines in China has been steadily improving.

But the sector still faces safety risks given the huge number of scattered mines, many of which are small and ill-equipped, according to an official with the safety watchdog.

At present, there are 32,000 non-coal mines in the country, 86.4 per cent of which are small.

Most of these mines are backward in technology and equipment, with undertrained staff and poor safety management, the official said.