The closure of Bobrek ends over a hundred years of mining activity – according to the RMF24.pl website, the mine had been operating since 1922, and its mining area covered almost 8 square kilometers.
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A tragic accident influenced the decision
The events of March 2024 provided a direct impulse to end mining. As a result of a strong earthquake in one of the mine areas, a miner was killed and several others were injured. After the accident, a commission appointed by the President of the State Mining Authority conducted detailed analyzes and negatively assessed the possibility of further safe work in the key area of the plant.
According to RMF24.pl, it was this opinion that determined the decision to definitively end the operation in Bobrek.
Mine closure and protection for employees
The mine liquidation process will be carried out by Węglokoks Kraj, with financial support from the state. Miners employed at the plant can count on protective benefits provided for in the 2021 social agreement, including mining holidays, severance pay and the possibility of transfer to other coal companies.
The liquidation of Bobrek is expected to take about four years and will include both the underground part of the mine and the preparation of areas for new investments.
What next with post-mining areas?
The amendment to the Mining Act introduces simplifications in the development of areas after mining. Entrepreneurs will be able to transfer them to local governments, and the directions of use considered include: heat recovery projects from mine water – reports RMF24.pl.
Węglokoks Kraj, in cooperation with the authorities of Bytom, has prepared several concepts for the development of the areas after the Bobrek mine. They assume the creation of a new economic area, including, among others: a logistics hub, heat and electricity production and a special energy zone based on clean energy sources.
The investments did not save the mine
It is worth recalling that the Bobrek mine was already being prepared for liquidation at the end of 2015, but it was then purchased by Węglokoks together with the Piekary mine. The new owner invested tens of millions of zlotys in modernizing the plant, increasing mining efficiency, which in recent years has reached approximately one million tons of coal per year.
Despite these actions, safety reasons resulted in the final termination of the mine's operations.
