Velenje Coal Mine

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Velenje Coal Mine is an operating coal mine in Styria, Slovenia.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Velenje Coal Mine	Styria, Slovenia	46.368919, 15.077637 (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	–	1875	2033 (planned)

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
–	2.36	2022	Underground	–	–	494*	2649*

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
358	–	–	Velenje	Lignite	Thermal	Sostanj power station

Table 5: Ownership and parent company

Owner	Parent Company	Headquarters
Premogovnik Velenje	Premogovnik Velenje [100%]	Slovenia

Table 6: Historical production (unit: million tonnes per annum)

Note: The asterisk (*) indicates that the value is an estimated figure based on various factors, including the company's forecasted or reported monthly or quarterly production data, etc.

ROM or Saleable	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Saleable	3*	3*	3*	3*	2*	2	–

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

Velenje mine is a lignite mine which is owned and operated by government-owned Premogovnik Velenje, near Velenje in Slovenia.

The mine is the only operating mine in Slovenia, supplying coal to the Sostanj Power Station. The majority of the 3.5 million tonnes (2017) of lignite and brown coal produced a year is supplied to the nearby Sostanj Power Station.

Euracoal, a European coal industry lobby group, states on its website that the mine boasts "one of the thickest known coal layers in the world (up to 165 meters). The company’s long-term strategy is to operate the mine until 2054, as it is likely to remain Slovenia’s only exploitable energy resource for the next 50 years."

A review of the geology of the deposit being mined states that "due to surface subsidence, wide lakes formed above abandoned and present underground mining activity" to the north of the mine and the nearby power station.

• Owner: Premogovnik Velenje
• Parent company:
• Location: Velenje, Slovenia
• GPS coordinates: 46.368919,15.077637 (exact)
• Mine status: Operating
• Start year:
• Mineable reserves: 358 millon tonnes
• Coal type: lignite
• Mine size:
• Mine type: underground
• Production: 3.5 million tonnes per annum
• Life of Mine: 2054
• Equipment:
• Number of employees:

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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.