Zapolyarnaya Coal Mine
| This article is part of the Global Coal Mine Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor. |
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Zapolyarnaya Coal Mine (Шахта Заполярная) is an operating coal mine in Zapolyarnyi, Vorkuta Urban, Komi, Russia.
Location
Table 1: Project-level location details
| Mine Name | Location | Coordinates (WGS 84) |
|---|---|---|
| Zapolyarnaya Coal Mine | Zapolyarnyi, Vorkuta Urban, Komi, Russia | 67.484686, 63.766193 (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 | – | 1949[1] | – |
Table 3: Operation details
| Capacity (Mtpa) | Production (Mtpa) | Year of Production | Mine Type | Mining Method | Mine Size (km2) | Mine Depth (m) | Workforce Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2[1] | 2.64[2][3] | 2022[2][3] | Underground | – | – | 855[1] | 777.5186231* |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22[1] | 2024[1] | – | – | Bituminous[4] | Met | Steel Plant |
Table 5: Ownership and parent company
| Owner | Parent Company | Headquarters |
|---|---|---|
| Vorkutaugol JSC [100.0%][5] | Russkaya Energiya LLC | Russia |
Table 6: Historical production (unit: million tonnes per annum)
| ROM or Saleable | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saleable | – | – | 1.98[6][7] | 2.03[6] | 1.88*[8][9] | 2.64*[2][10] | – | – | – |
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 Zapolyarnaya Coal Mine (Шахта Заполярная) is an operating underground coal mine in Komi Republic, Russia. The mine is owned and operated by Vorkutaugol JSC.
Vorkutaugol JSC used to be owned by Severstal, but the company was sold in the end of 2021 to Russkaya Energiya, whose majority shareholder at the time was Roman Trotsenko.[11] However Severstal remained the key consumer of Vorkutaugol coking coal - the terms of the sale agreement included a long-term offtake contract guaranteeing Severstal's supply of raw material.[12]
In November 2023, Aeon Corporation and several affiliated entities were placed on the US Treasury Department's blocking sanctions list. In December 2023, Trotsenko sold 69% of his stake in Aeon Corporation to the company's top managers, reducing his share to 31%.[13] By March 2025, Trotsenko had fully exited Vorkutaugol.[14]
Incidents
In January 2024, as a result of a groundwater breakthrough, partial flooding occurred in the Zapolyarnaya mine at a depth of 600 m. One miner died.[15]
Vorkutaugol
Vorkutaugol is one of the largest coal mining companies in Russia. As of 2021, Vorkutaugol accounted for about 11% of the country's coking coal production. Vorkutaugol operates in the Pechora coal basin. The company consists of four underground mines, one open pit mine and several auxiliary enterprises. Vorkutaugol delivered 8.8 million tonnes of production in 2021.[16] In 2022 Vorkutaugol increased coal production to 9.7 million tonnes.[17] According to a media source from December 2021, it is anticipated that the underground mines of Vorkutaugol will be closed in 2030-2036.[18]
2023 coal production of Vorkutaugol declined by 26% and was 7.2 million tonnes.[19] 1H 2024 production was up by 10% reaching 4.2 million tonnes.[20]
Vorkutaugol posted a net loss of 2.3 billion rubles ($25.3 million) in 2024, compared to a profit of 349 million rubles ($3.8 million) in 2023.[21] The losses were consistent with a broader downturn across the Russian coal sector; in 2024, more than half of Russian coal companies were unprofitable, with industry-wide losses reaching 112.6 billion rubles ($1.24 billion), driven by falling global coking coal prices — down around 40% from early 2024 to a three-year low by September 2024 — as well as rising production costs and heavy logistics expenses.[22]
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M2338.B1 | mine boundary | underground | Zapolyarnaya mine boundary | reported | 2025-11-24 00:00:00 |
| M2338.P1 | ventilation system | shaft | Ventilation shaft | extracted | 2025-08-08 00:00:00 |
| M2338.P2 | ventilation system | shaft | Ventilation shaft | extracted | 2025-08-08 00:00:00 |
| M2338.P3 | ventilation system | shaft | Ventilation shaft | extracted | 2025-08-08 00:00:00 |
| M2338.P4 | degasification system | drainage station | Gas drainage station | extracted | 2025-08-08 00:00:00 |
| M2338.P5 | ventilation system | shaft | Ventilation shaft | extracted | 2025-08-08 00:00:00 |
| M2338.P6 | other | preparation plant | Possible preparation plant | extracted | 2025-08-08 00:00:00 |
| M2338.P7 | ventilation system | vent | Possible vents | extracted | 2025-08-08 00:00:00 |
Table SMP2: Coal mine boundaries and methane sources data (continued)
| ID | Notes |
|---|---|
| M2338.B1 | The subsoil land-use license relevant to the Zapolyarnaya Coal Mine was identified through the Unified State Register of Legal Entities (Единый государственный реестр юридических лиц, ЕГРЮЛ),using the company’s INN (Taxpayer Identification Number, ИНН), page 14.
This mine polygon operates under subsoil land-use license СЫК02562ТЭ. The subsoil land-use license was issued on July 20, 2015 and is valid until December 30, 2032, https://web.archive.org/details/ul-1111103001327-20251125014237. The license boundary with geographic coordinates was extracted directly from the NedraExpert portal for license СЫК02562ТЭ, https://web.archive.org/web/20251126131717/https://www.nedraexpert.ru/license/145711?ysclid=mig125k1hk990693138. The approximate area of this boundary polygon is 33 square km. |
| M2338.P1 | Identified visually from Google Earth Pro satellite imagery. |
| M2338.P2 | Identified visually from Google Earth Pro satellite imagery. |
| M2338.P3 | Identified visually from Google Earth Pro satellite imagery. |
| M2338.P4 | Identified visually from Google Earth Pro satellite imagery. |
| M2338.P5 | Identified visually from Google Earth Pro satellite imagery. |
| M2338.P6 | Identified visually from Google Earth Pro satellite imagery. |
| M2338.P7 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zapollyarnaya Mine Boiler Fuel Project - Russia | utilization | Operational | 2009 |
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
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 https://vorkutaugol.ru/about/assets/zapolyarnaya.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 (PDF) https://gazetamv.ru/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/32%D0%BC.pdf.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 3.0 3.1 https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/itogi-raboty-ugolnoy-promyshlennosti-rossii-za-yanvar-dekabr-2022-goda/viewer.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20260630070517/https://burondt.ru/NDT/NDTDocsDetail.php?UrlId=2097&etkstructure_id=1872. Archived from the original on 30 June 2026.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ https://vorkutaugol.ru/about/assets.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 6.0 6.1 https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/itogi-raboty-ugolnoy-promyshlennosti-rossii-za-yanvar-dekabr-2020-goda/viewer.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ https://neftegaz.ru/news/coal/509389-shakhta-zapolyarnaya-pervoy-v-vorkutaugol-vypolnila-godovoy-biznes-plan/.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ (PDF) https://web.archive.org/web/20220312074505id_/http://www.ugolinfo.ru/artpdf/RU2201047.pdf.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/itogi-raboty-ugolnoy-promyshlennosti-rossii-za-2021-god/viewer.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ https://komiinform.ru/news/245646.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ "Severstal sells Vorkutaugol coal co to Trotsenko firm for 15 bln rubles". Interfax. April 29, 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs named:2 - ↑ "Троценко продал контрольный пакет корпорации АЕОН". rbc.ru. December 29, 2023. Retrieved February 27, 2026.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Троценко Роман Викторович. Биографический портрет". kommersant.ru. Retrieved February 27, 2026.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "На шахте Заполярная в г. Воркута произошел прорыв грунтовых вод". /neftegaz.ru/. January 2024.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs named:22 - ↑ "Итоги работы угольной промышленности 2022 г". cyberleninka.ru. 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Северсталь продает Воркутаугль Русской энергии за 15 млрд руб. Поставки угля сохранятся". neftegaz.ru. December 2, 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "ИтогИ работы угольной промышленности России за 2023 год" (PDF). /www.eruda.ru. April 2024.
{{cite web}}: line feed character in|title=at position 44 (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/itogi-raboty-ugolnoy-promyshlennosti-rossii-za-yanvar-iyun-2024-goda/viewer.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help)CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "АО «Воркутауголь» — финансовые показатели". audit-it.ru. Retrieved February 27, 2026.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Угольная промышленность РФ в 2024 году: итоги и вызовы". dprom.online. February 28, 2025. Retrieved February 27, 2026.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
