Gacko Coal Mine

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Gacko Coal Mine is an operating coal mine in Gacko, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Gacko Coal Mine	Gacko, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina	43.1703038926539, 18.5100955002253 (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	–	1982	–

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
–	2.134	2022	Surface	Open Pit	40	50*	872*

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
197	–	340	–	Lignite	Thermal	Gacko Thermal Power Plant

Table 5: Ownership and parent company

Owner	Parent Company	Headquarters
Rudnik I Termoelektrana Gacko AD	Elektroprivreda Republike Srpske AD	Bosnia and Herzegovina

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

Background

Gacko coal mine is a surface mine in Gacko, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The coal mine is operated by Rudnik i Termoelektrana Gacko that owns both the mine and the Gacko Thermal Power Plant. The company is part of Elektroprivreda Republike Sprske.

The Gatački coal basin is located in the north-eastern part of Herzegovina. The basin is divided into four exploitation fields: Western, Central, Eastern and Southern. It covers an area of ​​about 40 square kilometres and an altitude of about 940 m. In 1982, the "PK Gračanica" Gacko lignite mine was put into operation with capacity of 1.8 million tonnes a year to supply Gacko Thermal Power Plant. (not to be confused with Gracanica coal mine). The surface mine "Gračanica" is located in the western area of ​​the Gatački basin and is divided into exploitation fields A, B and C: coal mining has been completed in fields A and B and is taking place in field C, according to the company website. Overburden disposal is carried out at the Western external landfill, as well as at the internal landfills of field A and B where coal mining has been completed.

The annual capacity of the surface mine for coal exploitation is in line with the needs of Gacko Thermal Power Plant . Capacity of the mine is 2.2 million tonnes.

Record coal production was recorded in 2017, when 2.7 million tonnes were produced. Since the beginning of exploitation at the mine until 2020, a total of about 65 million tonnes of coal has been exploited.

• Owner: Rudnik i Termoelektrana Gacko AD (RiTE Gacko)
• Parent: Elektroprivreda Republike Srpske AD
• Location: Gacko, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzergovina
• Coordinates: 43.1703038926539, 18.5100955002253 (exact)
• Status: Operating
• Production: 2.38 million tonnes (2021), 2.135 million tonnes (2022)
• Total Resource: 340 Mt
• Total Reserves: 197 Mt
• Coal Type: Lignite (Thermal)
• Mine Type: Surface
• Start Year: 1982
• Source of Financing:

Expansion

As of 2020, expansion of the Gacko lignite mine had already been happening for over 3 years without an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). Only early in 2020 the company commenced the EIA process for the mine's Central field, although the mining works continued. As the EIA study itself admitted, several kilometres of the River Mušnica have already been rerouted, and considerable parts of the mine area have already been exploited, something which is visible in satellite images, provided in the Bankwatch report.

A court case was initiated in April 2022 by the Centre for the Environment and in a judgement from February 2023, for the second time, the court annulled the decision approving the EIA for the Central filed. In earlier court proceedings, which ended in March 2022, the court ruled that the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Construction and Ecology should have conducted consultations with neighbouring entities and countries. However instead the Ministry approved (another) identical EIA without conducting consultations.

Satellite images from 2020 to 2023 show further expansion of the mine in the South-eastern part.

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.