Vrsany Coal Mine

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Vrsany Coal Mine (Lom Vršany) is an operating coal mine in Most, Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Vrsany Coal Mine	Most, Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic	50.491799, 13.561962 (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
–	10	2022	Surface	Open Pit	18	115	1711*

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
260	–	–	Northern Bohemian	Lignite	Thermal	Pocerady power station

Table 5: Ownership and parent company

Owner	Parent Company	Headquarters
Vršanská Uhelná AS	Sev.en Energy AG	Liechtenstein

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

Background

Vrsany coal mine is a surface mine near the town of Most, Czech Republic.

The mine is operated by Vrsanska Uhelna AS, a subsidiary of Sev.en Energy. Sev.en Energy also owns the CSA coal mine. Pavel Tykac is the "sole ultimate beneficiary" of Sev.en Energy, formerly known as Czech Coal.

The overburden of the coal seam of the mine consists of a complex of sandy clay strata. Surface mining is hindered by the frequent occurrence of very hard silty claystones and pelocarbonate layers, which must be broken by drilling and blasting. The coal as well as the overburden are exploited by bucket-wheel excavators. Extracted coal is transported by a long-distance conveyor line to the transfer bin where the coal is loaded into wagons. The trains go directly to power stations or heating plants. Most of coal, about 5 million tonnes, is transported by trains to Pocerady power station which is only 7 kilometres away.

According to Interreg Europe report from 2017, the Vršany mine would be able to operate after 2026 only if the underground utilities and power lines are relocated. There are 12 various pipelines, 6 power lines and several control and data cables which are owned by 10 various owners. The length of the relocation is about 4 km and estimated costs were EUR 73 million, to be implemented over 2017-2022. The mine was was supposed to prepare a "Rehabilitation and Reclamation Plan". As of February 2023, it is not clear whether the relocation and reclamation went ahead.

Joint production of the Vrsany mine and the CSA mine reached 10.1 million tonnes in 2021, according to the company's report. Global Data states that production of the Vrsany mine in 2021 was 6.67 million tonnes. However this is likely to be lower as the total production of the two mines according to Global Data is 11.1 million tonnes which is higher than the total of 10.1 reported by the company.

A media article from December 2022 referred to mining reaching the maximum levels at Vrsany and CSA mine. Production at the mine increased in 2022, and 7.6 million tonnes were produced at Vršany by October 2022. "The mine has coal until 2045", the article went on to say. The Czech government committed to phase out coal by 2033. However, the energy crisis of 2022 has triggered debates in the Czech Republic about the possible extension and expansion of coal mining. As of November 2023, there was no information on the planned closure of the mine.

• Owner: Vrsanska Uhelna AS
• Parent: Sev.en Energy AG [100.0%]
• Location: Most, Czech Republic
• GPS coordinates: 50.491799, 13.561962 (exact)
• Mine status: Operating
• Production: 7.8 million tonnes (2019); 6.67 million tonnes (2021), 10.1 M million tonnes (2022 estimate based on 9m2022)
• Mineable reserves: 260 million tonnes (2017)
• Coal type: Lignite (Thermal)
• Mine size: 30 km2
• Mine type: Surface
• Start year: 1982

Opposition

In September 2020, 8 activists occupied an excavator to protest the Vršany mine, which feeds the Počerady power plant, the largest Czech source of greenhouse gas.

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.