Energy efficiency of the mining sector in China, what are the main influence factors?

•The two-way fixed-effect model and the threshold panel model are used to calculate the marginal effect of industrial agglomeration on the total factor energy efficiency (TFEE) of the mining sector.•The impact of industrial agglomeration on the TFEE of the mining sector is positive.•With the increasing of the regional economic development level, the effect of industrial agglomeration on the TFEE of the mining sector is gradually decreased.•Future policies for improving the TFEE of China's mining sector are suggested. The mining industry is the basic industrial sector in China. Perfecting the energy efficiency of the mining sector is extremely important for ensuring China's energy security, emission reduction, and promoting China's economic growth. Various factors influence the mining sector's energy efficiency. Based on the provincial-level panel data in China, this paper adopts a two-way fixed-effect model to explore the effect of industrial agglomeration on the total factor energy efficiency (TFEE) of the mining sector in China. Also, the threshold panel model is used to calculate the impact of industrial agglomeration in regions with different economic development levels on the energy efficiency of the mining industry. The results indicate that increasing industrial agglomeration improves the energy efficiency of the mining sector. Furthermore, with the increase in regional economic development, the impact of industrial agglomeration on energy efficiency is gradually decreased. The government could reduce the capacity, which eliminates redundant mining capacity in eastern China, and develop high-quality mining clusters in central and western China.