V. I. Lenin (Kazakhstan) Coal Mine

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V. I. Lenin (Kazakhstan) Coal Mine (В. И. Ленина) is an operating coal mine in Shakhtinsk, Karaganda, Kazakhstan.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
V. I. Lenin (Kazakhstan) Coal Mine	Shakhtinsk, Karaganda, Kazakhstan	49.725506, 72.521954 (exact)

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

Project Details

Table 2: Project status

Status	Status Detail	Opening Year	Closing Year
Operating	–	1964	–

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
–	1.4	2024	Underground	Longwall	–	500*	1650

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
30	2024	211	Karaganda	Bituminous	Met	Steel Plant

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
Qarmet JSC [100.0%]	Qazaqstan Steel Group LLP	Kazakhstan

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

ROM or Saleable	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
Saleable	–	–	–	1.45	–	–	–	1.4	–

Note: The above sections were automatically generated and are based on data from the Global Coal Mine Tracker August 2026 release.

Ownership Tree

This ownership tree is part of the Global Energy Ownership Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor.

Background

The V. I. Lenin Coal Mine (Шахта им. Ленина) is an underground coal mine in Karaganda Region, Kazakhstan. It was owned by ArcelorMittal Temirtau JSC, the Kazakh subsidiary of ArcelorMittal. It is part of ArcelorMittal's Karaganda Mine Complex, which supplies coal to the ArcelorMittal Temirtau steel plant.

Following the tragic accident at Kostenko coal mine on 28 October 2023 killing 45 people, Kazakh President ordered his cabinet to stop investment cooperation with ArcelorMittal Temirtau. Arcelor Mittal confirmed on October 28th that they have been in discussions with the government and recently signed a preliminary agreement for a transaction that will transfer ownership of ArcelorMittal Temirtau JSC to the Republic of Kazakhstan. The sale was completed in December 2023. Under the terms of the transaction, on closing ArcelorMittal has received consideration of $286 million and a further $250 million as repayment of outstanding intra-group dues. ArcelorMittal will also receive an additional sovereign-fund guaranteed payment of $450 million, paid in four equal annual instalments, as repayment of an intra-group loan. The new owners is Qazaqstan Investment Corporation, as state-owned direct investment fund which is owned by the national holding Baiterek. Subsequently Qazaqstan Steel Group has become a new investor in the facilities of ArcelorMittal Temirtau. Qazaqstan Steel Group is owned by a Kazakh businessman Andrey Lavrentyev. At the same time, ArcelorMittal Temirtau JSC was renamed Qarmet.

Incidents

In September 2006, a methane explosion at the mine killed 41 miners. After a subsequent investigation, six engineers and supervisors were sentenced to prison.

In November 2022, a methane explosion killed five workers and injured four more. A spokesperson for the emergency ministry said the explosion occurred during the drilling of a drainage well. ArcelorMittal was blamed for the explosion. According to the state commission, during the drilling of gas drainage wells. sensors that should detect gas contamination in the mine did not meet the standards. It was also noted that the company decided to drill wells in the mine from the inside, instead of using the modern method of degassing works - to drill them from the surface of the earth.

Operations

As of August 202, the mine was preparing for the installation of a new longwall, while another longwall face was being mined with a load of 56,000 tonnes per month.

In January 2024, the mine's director Valeriy Khan projected coal output for 2024 at 1.2 million tonnes, with development footage planned to increase by 37%.

In August 2024, the mine was said to be the first among the mines of the new entity Qarmet to have produced 1 million tonnes.

The Lenin coal mine was said to possibly close by 2028: "after the completion of the D6 seam reserves mining, it will stop due to untimely stripping and preparation of coal reserves in the D1 seam".

In 2025, a new longwall was commissioned at the Lenin mine with voal reserves estimated at between 700,000 and 1 million tonnes.

Qarmet Company

A media report from June 2023 stated that coal production by ArcelorMittal's eight underground mines in Kazakhstan declined from 11 million tonnes in 2015 to 7 million tonnes in 2022, and 4 out of 8 mines are planned for closure

In 2024, the new entity Qarmet under the new investor and management team extracted 6.5 million tonnes of coal and launched 6 additional longwalls.

As per August 2024 reporting, on the instructions of the president of Kazakhstan, the operation of all eight mines of Qarmet was restored in the shortest possible time and large-scale work has begun to strengthen industrial safety.

In June 2025, Qarmet announced a five-year investment plan of $3.5 billion, of which $300 million was allocated to mine safety, with remaining funds directed at environmental initiatives and production modernisation.

In 2025, Qarmet's Coal Department extracted 7.5 million tonnes of coal across all eight mines.

By 2028, the company planned to produce 9 million tonnes of coal.

Coal Mine Boundaries and Methane Sources

Global Energy Monitor researchers have identified coal mine boundary/boundaries and potential sources of coal mine methane (CMM) for this mine. These research results can be used to drive CMM attribution and mitigation efforts, particularly when combined with remotely sensed methane plume locations and mine ownership data. Explore the results with the embedded map at the top of this page by clicking on the mine boundary polygon or the CMM placemarkers to reveal more details. A detailed description of this research can be found in Coal Mine Boundaries and Methane Sources. This data is also available as a downloadable companion dataset to the Global Coal Mine Tracker and the Global Methane Emitters Tracker.

Table SMP1: Coal mine boundaries and methane sources data

ID	Mine feature category	Mine feature subcategory	Description	Coordinates precision	Data source date
M1438.B1	mine boundary	underground	V. I. Lenin coal mine boundary	extracted	2025-04-01 00:00:00
M1438.P1	ventilation system	shaft	ventilation shaft	extracted	2023-06-01 00:00:00
M1438.P2	ventilation system	shaft	ventilation shaft	extracted	2023-06-01 00:00:00
M1438.P3	degasification system	drainage station	drainage station	extracted	2023-06-01 00:00:00
M1438.P4	degasification system	drainage station	drainage station	extracted	2023-06-01 00:00:00
M1438.P6	degasification system	drainage station	possible gas drainage station	extracted	2023-06-01 00:00:00
M1438.P7	degasification system	drainage station	gas drainage station	extracted	2023-06-01 00:00:00
M1438.P9	other	slope access or production shaft	possible mine production shaft	extracted	2023-06-01 00:00:00
M1438.P10	ventilation system	shaft	possible ventilation shaft	extracted	2023-06-01 00:00:00
M1438.P11	ventilation system	shaft	possible ventilation shaft	extracted	2023-06-01 00:00:00
M1438.P12	ventilation system	shaft	possible ventilation shaft	extracted	2023-06-01 00:00:00
M1438.P13	ventilation system	vent	ventilation shaft	extracted	2023-06-01 00:00:00
M1438.P14	ventilation system	vent	ventilation shaft	extracted	2023-06-01 00:00:00
M1438.P15	degasification system	drainage station	possible gas drainage station	extracted	2023-06-01 00:00:00

Table SMP2: Coal mine boundaries and methane sources data (continued)

Coal mine boundaries and methane sources were last researched for this mine on Apr 15, 2025

ID	Notes
M1438.B1	The V I Lenin mine is part of the Karaganda Coal Mines Complex that includes eight underground coal mines and the Vostochnaya coal preparation plant. These mines are: Kostenko, Kuzembaeva, Saranskaya, Abayskaya, Kazakhstanskaya, Lenina, Shakhtinskaya and Tentekskaya coal mines, according to https://web.archive.org/web/20250207022321/https://miningdataonline.com/property/1772/Karaganda-Coal-Mines-Complex.aspx. The boundary was extracted from the Unified Platform for Subsoil Use, Ministry of Industry and Construction of the Republic of Kazakhstan https://web.archive.org/web/2/https://minerals.e-qazyna.kz/en/contracts-map, and based on object 144, issued May 12 1997, of work type 'contracts mountain' for JSC UD Arcelor Mittal Temirtau. Note that this boundary overlaps with a smaller object 4309, issued December 6 2016, of work type 'contracts mountain', for LLP "Akzharyk Komir". Note: The north edge of this boundary overlaps with the boundaries for Tentekskaya and Kazakhstanskaya mines, according to the minerals.e-qazyna.kz/en/contracts-map map. The area of the boundary is 29 sq km.
M1438.P1	Identified visually from Google Earth Pro satellite imagery.
M1438.P2	Identified visually from Google Earth Pro satellite imagery.
M1438.P3	Identified visually from Google Earth Pro satellite imagery.
M1438.P4	Identified visually from Google Earth Pro satellite imagery.
M1438.P6	Identified visually from Google Earth Pro satellite imagery.
M1438.P7	Identified visually from Google Earth Pro satellite imagery.
M1438.P9	Identified visually from Google Earth Pro satellite imagery.
M1438.P10	Identified visually from Google Earth Pro satellite imagery.
M1438.P11	Identified visually from Google Earth Pro satellite imagery.
M1438.P12	Identified visually from Google Earth Pro satellite imagery.
M1438.P13	Identified visually from Google Earth Pro satellite imagery. Note that this may alternatively be part of the Kazakhstanskaya mine which the containing boundary overlaps with.
M1438.P14	Identified visually from Google Earth Pro satellite imagery.
M1438.P15	Identified visually from Google Earth Pro satellite imagery.

Associated Coal Mine Methane Mitigation Projects

Some coal mines have installed infrastructure which can use and/or destroy some methane emissions associated with mining. In 2024, the Global Methane Initiative reported that this mine had a mitigation project associated with it. This methodology page describes how GEM classified these projects and linked them with coal mines in the Global Coal Mine Tracker.

Table MM1: Methane mitigation projects

Mitigation Project Name	Project Type	GMI Reported Status	GMI Reported Start Year
Lenina Mine Power Project - Kazakhstan	utilization	Operational	2011

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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.