Mining investments on Svalbard
The world’s northernmost mining company Store Norske on the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard is upgrading one of its mines to secure coal production for another 20 years.
Store Norske’s board has decided to invest NOK 100 million (€13 million) in Mine 7. The money will be used for new equipment, a new storage for coal and new loading facilities, says Managing Director of Store Norske Bjørn Arnestad.
Mine 7 has an annual production of 70-90.000 tons of coal and coal reserves of 2 million tons, which means 20 years of production, Svalbardposten writes.
About 25.000 tons of the coal from Mine 7 is used in the local power plant in Longyearbyen, the rest is exported to Europe.
Only one and a half year ago Store Norske was in economic difficulties and was planning to cut its workforce, as BarentsObserver reported.
