Mine 7 Coal Mine

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Mine 7 Coal Mine (Gruve 7) is an operating coal mine in Adventdalen, Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Norway.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name Location Coordinates (WGS 84)
Mine 7 Coal Mine Adventdalen, Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Norway[1] 78.1568, 16.0231 (exact)

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

Loading map...

Project Details

Table 2: Project status

Status Status Detail Opening Year Closing Year
Operating[1] 1916[1] 2025 (planned)[2]

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
0.12[3] Underground[1] Bord and Pillar[1] 494* 444*

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
Bituminous Thermal & Met[1]

Table 5: Ownership and parent company

Owner Parent Company Headquarters
Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani[1] Ministry of Trade and Industry Norway

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

Background

Gruve 7 Coal Mine (also known as Mine 7) is an underground coal mine located in Adventdalen, Norway, approximately 15 kilometers southeast of Longyearbyen.[4] Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani owns and operates the mine.[5] 

Gruve 7 is the only Norwegian coal mine that is still in operation.[4]

In 2021, Store Norske, announced that it planned to close the mine in 2023.[6] However, in 2022, it was decided that operations would be extended until summer 2025.[7] The main purpose of Mine 7 is to provide coal supply to Longyear Energiverk, which is the only Norwegian-owned coal power plant. Every year, approximately 30,000 tonnes of the mine's coal produce electricity and heat for homes, commercial buildings, and businesses in Longyearbyen. Mine 7 also delivers around 80,000 tonnes of coal for the metallurgical and chemical industry in Europe.[4]

  • Operator: Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani[5]
  • Owner: Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani[5]
  • Location: Adventdalen, Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Norway
  • Coordinates: 78.15680, 16.02310 (exact)
  • Status: Operating
  • Capacity: 0.12 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa)[5]
  • Total Reserves:
  • Mineable Reserves:
  • Coal Type: Bituminous (Thermal & Met)[5]
  • Mine Type: Underground[5]
  • Start Year: 1916
  • Source of Financing:

Planned Closure

In September 2021, the Longyearbyen local council terminated its agreement with Store Norske to buy coal from Mine 7 from September 2023, and as such, Mine 7–Norway's last coal mine–was tentatively scheduled for closure is autumn 2023 along with the local power plant it supplied. However, in 2022, as a result of the war in Ukraine, the board decided to extend the mine's operation an additional two years in order to export coal for industrial production in Europe.[7]

Following Mine 7's closure, Longyearbyen, Norway, plans to temporarily switch to diesel before a permanent, new renewable energy solution is in place.[6]

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. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 https://www.snsk.no/bergverk/gruve-7. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. https://web.archive.org/web/20240121025022/https://www.regjeringen.no/no/aktuelt/store-norske-spitsbergen-kulkompani-pa-svalbard-forlenger-produksjonen-av-industrikull-til-europa-fram-til-sommeren-2025/id2926294/. Archived from the original on 21 January 2024. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. https://www-snsk-no.translate.goog/nyheter/6413/norges-siste-kullgruve-legges-ned-i-september-2023?_x_tr_sl=no&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc&_x_tr_hist=true. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Mining: Mine 7, Store Norske website, accessed October 2023.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Lily Roberts, Melting Glacier Floods Arctic Coal Mine, Highlighting Climate Change Paradox, State of the Planet, Columbia Climate School, September 8, 2020
  6. 6.0 6.1 "Norway's last coal mine will be closed in September 2023", Store Norske press release, 29 September 2021.
  7. 7.0 7.1 "Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani forlenger produksjonen av industrikull til Europa fram til sommeren 2025", Norway Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries, 2 September 2022.