Bilorichenska Coal Mine

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Bilorichenska Coal Mine (Білоріченська) is an operating coal mine in Bilorichens'kyi, Lutuhyne, Luhansk, Ukraine.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Bilorichenska Coal Mine	Bilorichens'kyi, Lutuhyne, Luhansk, Ukraine	48.455534, 39.071417 (exact)

The map below shows the exact location of the coal mine:

Loading map...

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Project Details

Table 2: Project status

Status	Status Detail	Opening Year	Closing Year
Operating	–	1957	–

Table 3: Operation details

Note: The asterisk (*) signifies that the value is a GEM estimated figure.

Capacity (Mtpa)	Production (Mtpa)	Year of Production	Mine Type	Mining Method	Mine Size (km2)	Mine Depth (m)	Workforce Size
–	0.4	2022	Underground	–	–	600.0	1196*

Table 4: Coal resources and destination

Total Reserves (Mt)	Year of Total Reserves Recorded	Total Resources (Mt)	Coalfield	Coal Type	Coal Grade	Primary Consumer/ Destination
12.0	–	–	–	Bituminous	Thermal	–

Table 5: Ownership and parent company

Note: To access more comprehensive data on energy ownership, please visit the Global Energy Ownership Tracker.

Owner	Parent Company	Headquarters
Republic Fuel Company Vostokugol State Enterprise [100%]	Republic Fuel Company Vostokugol State Enterprise [100%]	Russia

Table 6: Historical production (unit: million tonnes per annum)

Note: The asterisk (*) indicates that the value is an estimated figure based on various factors, including the company's forecasted or reported monthly or quarterly production data, etc.

ROM or Saleable	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
ROM	–	1.1	–	–	–	0.4*	–

Note: The above section was automatically generated and is based on data from the Global Coal Mine Tracker May 2025 release.

Background

Bilorichenska coal mine (шахта Белореченская in Russian, Білоріченська in Ukrainian) is an underground coal mine in Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine.

The mine ranked among the largest in Ukraine. Its design and engineering of the mine began in 1949. The project was named Bilorichenska after Belaya river. The mine was planned in the area where "a burning stone" in the chalk deposits was found in the 18th century. The building of the shaft started in December 1950 and construction of the surface structures started in September 1951. The mine was commissioned in 1957.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the production decreased rapidly due to lack of investments and technology. In 1996 coal production amounted to only 193 thousand of tons. By this time all the coal reserves of the coal beds Almaznyi and Kamenskiy series were exhausted.

In September 2002 a new shaft was put into exploitation, equipped with 3KD-90 heavy duty complex. Due to this, in 2003 for the first time in its history the mine acquired the capacity of 750 thousand tons. In 2008 the mine developed its first "1 million tons of coal" per year.

In August 2022, a new longwall was commissioned with reserves of about 1 million tonnes. The plan was to mine to reach daily production of 1,100 tonnes per day (that's about 0.4 Mt per annum).

Another longwall was reported to have been commissioned in May 2024.

War in Ukraine, Coal Mining in Luhansk

With the seizing of the territory by pro-Russian separatists since 2014, the mine has transitioned under the umbrella of Republic Fuel Company Vostokugol State Enterprise of the unrecognized Luhansk People's Republic. Many mines have been closed and flooded and closed since the start of the conflict. However Belorechenskaya appeared to continue operations. About 40% of miners were mobilized and the ones that stayed work in difficult conditions 12h shifts.

At the end of October 2022, the six operating coal mines of Vostokugol State Enterprise extracted 3 million tonnes of coal. This was considerably less than 6 million tonnes in 2021. In 2023, coal production reached only 1.8 million tonnes. It appeared that coal production in 2024 was even lower as production over 9 months from April to December reached just over 1 million tonnes.

Bilorechenska was said to be the largest coal mine of the Luhansk republic, delivering coal to Zuevskaya power station.

Ownership

After the collapse of the Soviet Union the mine belonged to the state owned Luhanskvuhillya coal mining group. In 2001, the mine declared insolvency and the re-capitalization process started. In 2002 the mine obtained a strategic partner Valentin-Invest, a holding company of Ukrainian businessman Igor Martynenkov, who obtained the majority stake in the mine while the state-owned shares decreased to 25.83%. The recapitalization plan was approved by court in 2007. This decision was annulled by the High Commercial Court of Ukraine in 2010.

In 2012 the court decided to return the mine into the state ownership. On 14 September 2012, the Ukrainian state took control over the mine by force. Some media sources links this action to the participation of Igor Martynenkov at the 2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election running against the candidate of the Party of Regions.

At the end of October 2022, the six operating coal mines of Vostokugol State Enterprise extracted 3 million tonnes of coal. This was considerably less than 6 million tonnes in 2021. In 2023, coal production reached only 1.8 million tonnes.

Production safety

At the mine territory a rescue-workers school was built, which later became a basis for the only mine rescue station in Ukraine. Besides, in 2004 the mine purchased 14 units “YUREK-6”, what made it possible to equip all the main and local conveyor lines with fire-fighting systems.

The mined coal rank is "G" – electric-power coke. As of 1 June 2011 reserves of the mine amounted to 11.6 million tons. There is an opportunity to cut further spare reserves, following which the mineable reserves could amount up to 70 million tons of coal.

Social responsibility

Bilorichenska mine has renovated a culture centre and a nursing school "Rosinka" (Dewdrop) of Belorechenskiy settlement and opened a museum of Bilorichenska mine. In August 2011 gas lines were led in the settlement. Water supply and sewerage of Belorechenskiy township are provided managed by the mine.

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Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of world coal mines, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Mine Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.