Bongcheon Coal Mine

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Bongcheon Coal Mine (봉천탄광) is an operating coal mine in South Pyongan, North Korea.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name Location Coordinates (WGS 84)
Bongcheon Coal Mine South Pyongan, North Korea 39.775859, 125.959091 (approximate)

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

Loading map...

Project Details

Table 2: Project status

Status Status Detail Opening Year Closing Year
Operating

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
0.19[1] Underground 494* 45*

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
47 Gaecheon Anthracite Thermal

Table 5: Ownership and parent company

Owner Parent Company Headquarters
Gaecheon District Coal Mine Joint Enterprise[2] Government of North Korea North Korea

Note: The above section was automatically generated and is based on data from the GEM April 2024 Global Coal Mine Tracker dataset.

Background

Bongcheon Coal Mine (or Pongchon, 봉천탄광) is an underground coal mine in South Pyongan Province, North Korea.[3] The mine is in the largest anthracite rich area in North Korea and is located in Gaecheon District, South Pyongan Province. The area includes Bongcheon Coal Mine, Gaecheon Coal Mine, Choyang Coal Mine, Wonri Coal Mine, Sinlip Coal Mine, Ramjeon Coal Mine, Sinseong Coal Mine, and Mujindae Youth Coal Mine.[4]

The reserves of the Bongcheon coal mine were 47 million tonnes as of 1997, and the annual production capacity is 1.2 million tonnes.[4] Production is about 550 tonnes of high-heat coal per month and 15,000 tonnes of low-heat coal per month, according to KDB State of Industry 2020 report.[5][4] This is equivalent to 0.19 million tonnes production per year.

Since 2017, the Bongcheon Coal Exploration Team has been working on a high-quality coal mine near the existing coal mine area. After excavation, hundreds of thousands of tonnes of coal reserves were newly secured.[5]

  • Owner: Gaecheon District Coal Mine Joint Enterprise
  • Parent: Government of North Korea
  • Location: South Pyongan Province, North Korea
  • Coordinates: 39.775859, 125.959091 (approximate)
  • Mine status: Operating
  • Start year:
  • Production capacity (Mtpa): 1.2 Mtpa (capacity)[4], 0.19 Mt (estimated production)[5]
  • Total reserves (Mt): 47 (1997)[4]
  • Coal type: Anthracite[4]
  • Mine type: Underground
  • Start year:

Articles and Resources

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.

References

  1. https://web.archive.org/web/20230401085911/http://nkinfo.unikorea.go.kr/nkp/main/portalMain.do. Archived from the original on 01 April 2023. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |archive-date= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. https://nkinfo.unikorea.go.kr/nkp/pge/view.do;jsessionid=lvC40XapupZzeLsiOXpGgxGNqw25ugQ0fqrFJCOW.ins12?menuId=MENU_70#:~:text=%5B%EB%B4%89%EC%B2%9C%ED%83%84%EA%B4%91%5D%20%EB%A7%A4%EC%9E%A5%EB%9F%89%EC%9D%80%201997%EB%93%B1%EC%9C%BC%EB%A1%9C%20%EA%B5%AC%EC%84%B1%EB%90%98%EC%96%B4%20%EC%9E%88%EB%8B%A4. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. North Korea Information Portal, National Mining Status, 2015
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 "National Mining Status (translated)". https://nkinfo.unikorea.go.kr. Retrieved March 2023 and February 2024. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |access-date= (help); External link in |website= (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named :12