Vrsany Coal Mine

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Vrsany Coal Mine (Lom Vršany) is an operating coal mine in Most, Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Vrsany Coal Mine	Most, Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic	50.491799, 13.561962 (exact)

The map below shows the exact location of the coal mine:

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Project Details

Table 2: Project status

Status	Status Detail	Opening Year	Closing Year
Operating	–	1982	2038

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
–	10	2022	Surface	Open Pit	18	115	#REF!*

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
260	–	–	Northern Bohemian	Lignite	Thermal	Pocerady power station

Table 5: Ownership and parent company

Owner	Parent Company	Headquarters
Vršanská Uhelná AS	Sev.en Energy AG	Liechtenstein

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	10.7*	11.4*	11*	6*	6.07*	9.52	7.8*

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

Background

Vrsany coal mine is a surface mine near the town of Most, Czech Republic. The mine is operated by Vrsanska Uhelna AS, a subsidiary of Sev.en Energy. Sev.en Energy also owns the CSA coal mine. Pavel Tykac is the "sole ultimate beneficiary" of Sev.en Energy, formerly known as Czech Coal.

The overburden of the coal seam of the mine consists of a complex of sandy clay strata. Surface mining is hindered by the frequent occurrence of very hard silty claystones and pelocarbonate layers, which must be broken by drilling and blasting. The coal as well as the overburden are exploited by bucket-wheel excavators. Extracted coal is transported by a long-distance conveyor line to the transfer bin where the coal is loaded into wagons. The trains go directly to power stations or heating plants. Most of coal, about 5 million tonnes, is transported by trains to Pocerady power station which is only 7 kilometres away.

According to Interreg Europe report from 2017, the Vršany mine would be able to operate after 2026 only if the underground utilities and power lines are relocated. There are 12 various pipelines, 6 power lines and several control and data cables which are owned by 10 various owners. The length of the relocation is about 4 km and estimated costs were EUR 73 million, to be implemented over 2017-2022. The mine was supposed to prepare a "Rehabilitation and Reclamation Plan".

Joint production of the Vrsany mine and the CSA mine reached 10.1 million tonnes in 2021, according to the company's report. As per Global Data, production of the Vrsany mine in 2021 was 6.67 million tonnes. However this is likely to be lower as the total production of the two mines according to Global Data is 11.1 million tonnes which is higher than the total of 10.1 reported by the company. Joint production in 2022 increased to 11.9 million tonnes, as per company's 2022 report.

A media article from December 2022 referred to mining reaching the maximum levels at Vrsany and CSA mine. Production at the mine increased in 2022, with 7.6 million tonnes produced at Vršany by October 2022. "The mine has coal until 2045", the article went on to say. The Czech government committed to phase out coal by 2033. However, the energy crisis of 2022 has triggered debates in the Czech Republic about the possible extension and expansion of coal mining.

The ČSA Coal Mine suspended mining in summer 2024 and Vršany coal mine will now be a key source of coal for the Počerady and Chvaletice power plants which also belong to the Sev.en. Coal mining in Czech Republic continues to decline, with a 20% decrease as of August 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.

The latest available company's report ESG 2022 reported stated that they expect the mine to remain operational until the coal phase-out, i.e., 2038. As January 2025, there was no information on the company's plan to close the mine. As per Czech government approved an updated national energy plan from December 2024, coal mining is to be ceased by 2033.

Opposition

In September 2020, 8 activists occupied an excavator to protest the Vršany mine, which feeds the Počerady power plant, the largest Czech source of greenhouse gas.

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.