The ČSM mine, formerly known as the Czechoslovak Youth Mine, is located in Stonava in the Moravian-Silesian region in the northeast of the country. It is owned by OKD, long the country’s largest mining company and Czechia’s only producer of hard coal. ČSM is the last active hard-coal mine not only in the Ostrava-Karviná mining basin, but in the entire country.

Construction of the mine began in 1958, and the first coal was extracted a decade later, in December 1968. Today, local miners have about 40,000 tonnes of hard coal left to extract — the final chapter of Czech coal mining.<br/> For many people, the closure is deeply personal. Among them is Lenka Czyzová, who has worked for years at the ČSM mine as a canteen worker. Mining runs through her family: her father, father-in-law, husband, son and daughter have all worked, or still work, at the mine. Now she, like dozens of others, will have to look for a new job.

“We’ll all have to look for work now. It’s a real shame that it’s ending. I’m honestly very sorry about it."

While employees face uncertainty, OKD is already planning its future. Alongside the closure of the last mine, the company will shift to producing energy blends using purchased coal and coal from its remaining stockpiles. OKD also plans to become a property developer in the Karviná district of Staré Město — an area where it once planned to expand mining operations.

Those plans have since changed. A new industrial complex is now set to rise a short distance away, near the main road. According to OKD’s CEO, Roman Sikora, the company already has a confirmed investor.

“We already have a specific customer for the construction of a production hall of around fifteen thousand square metres. Utilities are in place, and we’ve signed a preliminary contract with that customer.”<br/> OKD also plans to make use of mine gas. A combustion cogeneration unit is currently being manufactured in Austria.

“We expect to begin producing electricity and heat in the fourth quarter of 2026,” Sikora says.

The company also plans to build a large battery storage facility with a capacity of up to 40 megawatt-hours. All investments, including severance pay for departing employees, will be covered from OKD’s own reserves. More than half a billion crowns will be distributed among workers, based on their years of service.

Prepared by the team from the foreign office CzechTrade Egypt.
Source: Radio Prague International, https://english.radio.cz/hard-coal-mining-czechia-end-last-mine-closes-8873912
Authors: Ruth Fraňková, Martin Knitl