Breza Coal Mine

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Breza Coal Mine is an operating coal mine in Breza, Zenica-Doboj Canton, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Breza Coal Mine	Breza, Zenica-Doboj Canton, Bosnia and Herzegovina	44.0021733831571, 18.2555356927778 (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	–	1907	–

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
–	0.4	2021	Underground & Surface	Mixed	–	60*	900

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
28	–	49	–	Subbituminous	Thermal	Kakanj Thermal Power Plant

Table 5: Ownership and parent company

Owner	Parent Company	Headquarters
RMU Breza doo	Elektroprivreda BiH dd [90.4%]; others [9.6%]	Bosnia and Herzegovina

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

Background

Breza coal mine is an underground and surface mine in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

There are two underground mine sections Sretno and Kamenice and a surface section Koritnik.The Breza coal mine is located 20 km northwest of the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It started operating in 1907 when the first mine was opened at this location.

RMU Breza has 2 underground mines, Kamenice and Sretno. Kamenice is located southeast of the Sretno mine, and the two mines are interconnected by a common ventilation system and a common conveyor for the transport of coal from the mine. The company's website mentions also a surface section Koritnik.

Coal from the mine is used to supply the Kakanj Thermal Power Plant.

Social

The Breza brown coal mine has been the the engine of local development, but has been grumbling for years in problems caused by reckless management, excessive employment and the accumulation of debts. Due to the poor management of the mine, the municipality itself has stagnated and there has been no investment in the last ten years. Personnel are voluntarily leaving the company. The most important problem for RMU Breza workers, in addition to safety at work, is unpaid contributions for health and pension insurance. Only if you become seriously ill will the company pay the arrears. When they meet the legal norm for pension, mine employees can wait even longer than a year for the first pension payment, until the employer settles the pension insurance obligations.

As of July 2022, there were 993 workers working in this mine, which is about 300 less than in the previous year when EPBiH started restructuring the mines. As many as 317 employees are disabled. Since 2013, 18 miners died at the mine. As of June 2023, it was 900 workers.

Restructuring and Potential Closure

The parent company Elektroprivreda BiH is undertaking restructuring and recapitalization of its seven coal mines over 2021-2023. The company planned to adjust its coal mines with the national plan to reduce emissions, which will affect the drop in overall production (5 million tons of coal in 2021 is expected to drop to 4.6 by 2022 and 4.3 in 2023).

Experts anticipate that none of Bosnia’s remaining 11 coal mines will remain operational in the coming decades as eco pressure grows and the country seeks to clean up as it courts EU membership.

The mine workers anticipate the closure of the mine as well in a few years' time, according to an interview from July 2022.

An article from June 2023 referred to the mine soon receiving a concession for the exploration and exploitation of coal, which should alleviate its problems as well as provide additional income to the municipality. The nature and the scope of the concession were not clear.

As of 2024, 800 people worked at the mine compared to 1,200 four years ago.

In 2023, the mine produced about 0.3 million tonnes of coal, 66% of the annual plan. The financial audit of the company conducted in 2024 identified a number of problems.

• Owner: RMU Breza doo
• Parent: Elektroprivreda BiH
• Location: Breza, Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Coordinates: 44.003972034868866, 18.255722489970097 (exact)
• Status: Operating
• Production: 0.68 million tonnes (2017-2018), 0.524Mt (2020), 0.4 Mt (2021 estimate based on 10m 2021)
• Total Resource: 49 million tonnes (2008)
• Total Reserves: 28 million tonnes (2008)
• Coal Type: Subbituminous (Thermal)
• Mine Type: Underground
• Start Year: 1907
• Source of Financing:

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.