Karvina Coal Mines

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The Karvina coal mines are a cluster of underground mine operations owned by Ostravsko-Karvinské Doly (OKD a.s.) in eastern Silesia, Czech Republic.[1]

The mine cluster originally included eight sites—ČSA (Czech Army Mine), Lazy, Darkov, ČSM-North, ČSM-South, Staříč, Chlebovice, and Frenštát—however, only the ČSM mines remain active as of 2023.[2]

Location

The satellite image below shows the exact location of ČSM-Sever (North) mine.

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The satellite image below shows the exact location of ČSM-Jih (South) mine.

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Background

The Karvina mines are owned by OKD a.s. In 2005, Karbon Invest A.S. bought out the state's share and became the main shareholder. In the very same year, RPG Industries, Ltd. based in Cyprus acquired a majority share in Karbon Invest. RPG Industries, Ltd is owned by a group of international institutional and private investors led by the Czech financier Zdeněk Bakala.[3] Following the bankruptcy process in 2016, part of OKD was transferred to a subsidiary, OKD Nástupnická, which was then bought by the state-owned financial holding company PRISKO under the Czech Ministry of Finance in 2018.[4]

OKD is the only producer of bituminous coal in the Czech Republic. Karvina mines are located within the Ostrava-Karviná coal basin, which in turn is in the southern part of the Upper-Silesian basin.[5] About half of the hard-coal production is used for coke in the iron and steel industry; some hard coal is also used in co-generation plants and for district heating in the eastern parts of the country where it is mined.[4]

All Karvina mines are deep mines and coal is exploited using shafts. Deep mining is carried out under intricate geological conditions in a series of strata reaching many hundreds of meters deep.[6]

OKD's mining activities in Karvina are divided into several mining operations:[6]

Mining Operation 1

Included the now-closed mining sites ČSA in Karvina (operations closed in 2021), Darkov mine (closed in 2021), and Lazy mine (reported closed in 2019, but operations continued until 2020).[4] (OKD's ČSA underground mine site is not to be confused with the active ČSA surface lignite mine owned by Sev.en Energy in the North Bohemian Basin region.)

In September 2020, OKD announced that it would permanently close the Darkov and the ČSA mines at the end of February 2021.[4][7]

Mining Operation 2

Includes the operating ČSM North and ČSM South, both located in the eastern part of the Karviná coal district.[6]

As of March 2021, only the ČSM mine was left in operation, expected to be closed in 2023. ČSM mine was planned to be closed in 2023, but as of the end of 2022, the company envisaged to continue mining until 2025.[8][9][10]

Operation-in-Closure South

This OKD mining operation included the now-closed Staříč and Chlebovice mining sites.[6] Up until their closure in March 2017, they were the only active mines in Ostrava mining district.[11]

Frenštát Mine

A proposed expansion site, Frenštát in the Karvina mine area was mothballed and eventually closed in 2020.[6]

Bankruptcy and Renationalisation

OKD filed for bankruptcy in May 2016. Low international metallurgical/coking prices made OKD’s operations unprofitable. The financially healthy part of OKD was transferred to a subsidiary, OKD Nástupnická, which was then bought by the state-owned financial holding company PRISKO under the Czech Ministry of Finance in 2018.[4] OKD submitted a comprehensive restructuring strategy to the regional court in Ostrava in 2017, announcing plans to cease all mining operations by 2023.[4]

2018 Explosion

In 2018, an explosion in the Karvina coal mine killed 13 people.[12] Methane levels were 4.5 times the allowable level in the OKD mine at the time of the explosion, according to Bohuslav Machek, spokesman for the Czech mining authority.[13]

Production

In 2020, OKD produced 2.2 Mt compared to around 3.6 Mt in 2019 and over 8 Mt in 2015.[4] Production of bituminous coal (assumed to fully represent OKD production as it's the only miner of bituminous coal) in 2022 was reported at 1.8 million tonnes, down by 18% from 2021 levels.[14]

2023 Closure - Reversal

In June 2022, OKD stated that would end operations by the end of 2023, although with a higher production of 1.3 million tonnes. Extension of production beyond 2023 was mentioned as a possibility.[15]

At the end of 2022, the state-owned OKD announced that it wanted to keep mining at the ČSM mine until 2030. It wants to mine an average of 1.1 million tonnes of coal per year, with a maximum of 1.8 million tonnes. The permit is valid until the end of 2026, the management of the company has requested an assessment of the impact of the planned mining on the environment (EIA process) until 2029. After the end of mining, there will be a maximum four-year period of rehabilitation of the mine.[14] However other sources around the same time and later stated that mining should cease already in 2025.[8][9][10]

Furthermore, considerations arose as to whether it would be worthwhile to resume mining in the recently shut down mines in Karvinska. The state enterprise DIAMO, which took over the shut down mines, found that resuming of mining at the ČSA and Darkov Mines is possible, but may not be economical or timely.[14]

OKD’s current key customers includes the Detmarovice power station.[14]

Mine Details

  • Owner: OKD AS[3]
  • Parent Company: PRISKO AS (under the Czech Ministry of Finance)[4]
  • Location: Ostrava-Karviná coal basin, Czech Republic[5]
  • GPS Coordinates: 49.81706577949316, 18.54849501031246 (ČSM North); 49.8034324472107, 18.555129377084835 (ČSM South)
  • Mine Status: Operating (ČSM mine)
  • Production: 2.2 million tonnes (2020)[4], 1.8 million tonnes (2022)[14]
  • Mineable Reserves: 84.8 million tonnes (34 proven, 50.8 probable)[16] Karviná (OKD1): 19.9 million tonnes (Proven and Probable, 2020) [17]
  • Coal Type: Bituminous (Thermal)[18]
  • Mine Type: Underground[18]
  • Start Year: 1950[19]
  • Number of Employees: 8,400[20]

Articles and resources

References

  1. OKD, OSTRAVA-KARVINÁ COAL BASIN, OKD website, accessed Nov 23, 2019
  2. OKD, "How coal is mined in OKD", OKD website, Archived from the original on 21 February 2022, accessed May 2023.
  3. 3.0 3.1 OKD AFTER 1990 OKD website, accessed Nov 23, 2019
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 "Czech Republic 2021 - Energy Policy Review" (PDF). iea.org. 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. 5.0 5.1 OKD, OSTRAVA-KARVINÁ COAL BASIN, OKD website, accessed Nov 23, 2019
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 "OKD Coal Mining". okd.cz. Retrieved February 2023. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |access-date= (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. "OKD to decommission two mines". https://eurometal.net/. September 2020. {{cite web}}: External link in |website= (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. 8.0 8.1 "Czech OKD to keep CSM coal mine running until 2025 amid energy crisis". www.reuters.com. December 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. 9.0 9.1 "OBRAZEM: Takto dnes vypadá práce v Dole ČSM. Podívejte se do podzemí". karvinsky.denik.cz. August 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. 10.0 10.1 "Černé uhlí se v Dole ČSM bude těžit až do roku 2025. Původně měla činnost skončit letos". www.irozhlas.cz/. December 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  11. "Operation-in-closure South", OKD website, Archived from the original on 17 January 2022, accessed May 2023,
  12. Marc Santora, "Czech Coal Mine Explosion Kills at Least 13", New York Times, Dec. 21, 2018
  13. Karl Janieck, "Death toll in Czech mine explosion increases to 13", WMC Action News, Dec 21, 2018
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 "Brown coal mining in the Czech Republic increased by 14 percent last year. Interest was driven by coal-fired power plants and households". https://ekonomickydenik.cz/. January 2023. {{cite web}}: External link in |website= (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  15. "Czech coal miner OKD extends production until at least end-2023". reuters.com. June 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  16. Sustainability Report 2012 2012
  17. New World Resources, "Karvina Mine", NWR website, Accessed May 2021
  18. 18.0 18.1 OKD Coal Mining organizational website, accessed Nov 23, 2019
  19. OKD MINES ČSA, LAZY AND DARKOV organizational website, accessed Nov 25, 2019
  20. Czech OKD looks to close all coal mines as early as 2021 or 2022, New Europe, July 24, 2020

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