Fri, Feb 10 2012

Last underground coal pit in Pernik closes down

Mon, Mar 09 2009 16:24 CET

byNick Iliev

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Last underground coal pit in Pernik closes down

Bela Voda, the last underground coal pit in Pernik, which was one of the main suppliers for Bobov Dol thermal power station. Production has been halted since November 2008 and as stockpiles diminished, it will now cease operation altogether "due to the reduced demand from the power station and the sharp decline in the sale of coal," the pit's manager Georgi Stoyanchev said, as quoted by website investor.bg.

About 10 000 tons of coal were mined at the Bela Voda pit every month and it has about 21 000 tons in storage. In the autumn of 2008, exports bound for Greece were halted and only around 10 per cent of the produce was purchased locally in Pernik by the local residents. With the winter over, that meager demand has sunk even lower.

The staff employed by the mine had already been trimmed down on two previous occasions, now standing at just 160. A further 40 jobs are expected to be cut.

The excavation will be halted permanently on June 1, as currently the management of the pit are formulating a scheme for conservation and possible future excavation. Roughly four million tons of coal remain in the pit, according to its estimates.

Several weeks ago, Bela Voda was given for concession for 35 years to Coal Pernik OOD. The new owners installed a special technology for water from the pit, which will ease future exploitation of the mine.

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