Poland launches its first new coal mining operations in 25 years

Poland opened its first new coal-mining facility Bzie-Debina since 1994 this week, built by the biggest EU producer of coking coal Polish mining company Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa (JSW) near the town Jastrzebie-Zdroj, close to Czech border.

The Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki stressed the mine will build up the strength of Polish industry and be useful for the whole of Europe in the future, daily PolandIn tweeted on September 25.

“Twelve years ago, this site consisted of just mud, a meadow and barren land. My colleagues from the Management Board and I visited this spot in January 2007 and we said: “There will be a mine here.” And that is exactly what has happened,” said JSW President of the Management Board Włodzimierz Hereźniak, according to the press release.

“One should have a comprehensive view of the economy. We can't have a modern economy without steel, and we can't have steel without coking coal. If we want to promote renewable energy and boost the development of the automotive industry, we need to have very good quality steel,” PM noted, daily PolandIn quoted.

“The coking coal mining industry has a bright future … For the European steel industry it is important to guarantee stable supplies of its basic raw materials on competitive terms. We can see, therefore, how important the role of the Bzie-Dębina mine is also from the point of view of the entire EU economy,” said the Minister of Energy Krzysztof Tchórzewski, in the ministry ́s press release.

The mine is planned to start extracting coking coal in 2022 and reach its full capacity in 2025. Local resource deposits are estimated to amount to 180mn tonnes. JSW plans to invest PLN3bn (€683.7mn) by 2033. “The investments involving this mine will be very substantial. Capital expenditures in 2019-2022 will total roughly PLN922mn (€210.1mn),” Hereźniak noted.

According to JSW, the decision to launch a new mine was made by the company at the beginning of this year. There are currently 230 miners working in the Bzie-Debina mine, transferred from the JSW ́s other mines. By the end of 2019, the facility is expected to employ 300 workers. 

The JSW Group is the largest producer of coking coal and a major producer of coke in the EU. It was established in April 1993 as one of seven coal companies founded at that time. It consisted of 7 independently operating mining enterprises transformed into a wholly owned company of the State Treasury. The company is one of the largest employers in Poland with more than 26,4 thousand employees.