Coal mining in Sveagru­va is histo­ry

The Nor­we­gi­an govern­ment in Oslo has deci­ded that the coal mine in Lun­ckef­jel­let near Sveagru­va will not come into pro­duc­ti­ve ope­ra­ti­on. The mine was ope­ned in 2014 but sin­ce then, it has only been dri­ven in stand­by mode.

The mining com­pa­ny Store Nor­ske has suf­fe­r­ed bad­ly from low pri­ces on the world mar­kets for coal for years (see for exam­p­le Store Nor­ske bai­lout, May 2015). Near 300 employees had to lea­ve, only about 100 are left.

The­se remai­ning ones will not be able to enjoy their jobs for many years eit­her, sin­ce Nor­we­gi­an Secre­ta­ry of Sta­te for Trade and Indus­try Moni­ca Mæland anoun­ced on Octo­ber 12, 2017, that the govern­ment will not sup­port rene­wed pro­duc­ti­ve mining in Sveagru­va, name­ly Lun­ckef­jel­let. Fur­ther pro­duc­tion wit­hout finan­cial sup­port from Oslo is not pos­si­ble. The govern­ment is also the owner of the mining com­pa­ny Store Nor­ske. Neither the govern­ment nor Store Nor­ske are inte­res­ted in kee­ping the cur­rent stand­by ope­ra­ti­on upright.

As a result, the next cou­ple of years will see the pha­seout of mining acti­vi­ties in Sveagru­va and a big gene­ral cle­a­nup of the place. This will, at least, keep most of today’s employees in Store Nor­ske busy.

It is also said that the govern­ment does not plan major alter­na­ti­ve acti­vi­ties in Sveagru­va, such as tou­rism or sci­ence. It is, howe­ver, not excluded that some buil­dings may be used for the­se pur­po­ses.

The decis­i­on does not affect coal mining in mine 7 near Lon­gye­ar­by­en, which is taking place on a com­pa­ra­tively small sca­le to sup­p­ly the local power plant and minor volu­mes for export.

Source: NRK

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