LW Bogdanka files application for coal mining license from Ostrów deposit

LW Bogdanka, the most advanced and the most efficient coal mine in Poland, part of Enea Group, one of the leaders of the Polish energy sector, has filed an application at the Ministry of the Environment, for a coal mining license for the Ostrów deposit in Ludwin mining zone.

One of Bogdanka’s priorities, as part of the current strategic plan, in force until the year 2025, is to acquire new recoverable reserves and to double their size. Once it secures access to the Ostrów deposit, its resources will increase to c. 186 million tons. Additionally, the company is planning to expand the resources of Bogdanka coalfield by c. 33 million tons. In total, LW Bogdanka will increase its resources from c. 227 million tons currently to c. 446 million tons, which, assuming the extraction of c. 9 million tons of coal annually, will extend the mine’s useful life to c. 50 years (currently c. 25 years), i.e. until around the year 2067.

LW Bogdanka is expecting to receive mining license for the Ostrów deposit in 2017. At the same time, the company is looking at zones K-6, K-7 and Orzechów as areas of further potential mining activity.

Production from the Ostrów deposit may be launched using the existing infrastructure and without capital-intensive construction of new shafts. After the year 2025, Bogdanka is planning to develop horizontal access to the deposit at the Ludwin field and build essential facilities and technical infrastructure. According to preliminary estimate, total CAPEX, in real terms, related to construction of such infrastructure will reach PLN 1.2-1.3bn.

Before it filed the application for a mining license, Bogdanka has conducted hydrogeological, geological and engineering and other exploration work, conducted under the terms of the exploration license received in June 2014. LW Bogdanka has also completed an environmental impact assessment and has secured a decision by the Regional Directorate of Environmental Protection in Lublin regarding environmental conditions for the Ostrow project within the boundaries of the planned area and the mining zone Ludwin. Dozens of Bogdanka’s employees participated in work on the concession application, a process that took several years.

– Hard coal mining is an industry in which management requires farsightedness and planning years in advance. That is why we are already filing an applications for a mining license from the Ostrow deposit - according to the strategy announced at the beginning of the year, we are planning to double our recoverable resources in the Lublin Coal Basin. With coal production at approximately 9 million tons per year this will extend the useful life of our mine to around 50 years. An increase of our recoverable resources will secure the development of the mine and provide stable supplies for Enea Group. This, in turn will ensure stability of employment for new generations of miners and extend Bogdanka’s ability to support the development of local communities and the Lublin province by several decades - says  Krzysztof Szlaga, the CEO of LW Bogdanka.