Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa is interested in Lublin coal. The Silesians are negotiating with the Australian company Prairie Mining Limited the conditions for taking over the rights to the fields located between Siedliszcze and Cyców. It is in this region, specifically in the village of Kulik, that the mine Jan Karski would be created.
– The Polish government is very interested in the creation of the mine in Chełmszczyzna. This is one of the tasks that I supported from the beginning, also supported by the Prime Minister and Minister of Energy Krzysztof Tchórzewski. That is why we organized a meeting with the president of JSW, who will present plans for the Lublin Basin – said Beata Mazurek, deputy speaker of the Sejm during the Friday conference in Chełm.
Daniel Ozon, CEO of JSW, also took part in the meeting in the Chełm Delegation of the Provincial Office. He confirmed interest in coking coal deposits in the Lublin Coal Basin. The technical dialogue on the possible takeover of deposits, JSW and Prairie have been running for six months. – Chełmszczyzna has large reserves of coking coal, which would allow us to increase extraction and reduce production costs. The deposits that interest us are located in the central and south-eastern part of the Lublin province. There are 200 million tons of coal in the area of 151 sq m. The cost of building a mine is estimated at approx. PLN 2.5 billion – Daniel Ozon explained. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki also spoke about the construction of the mine during his short visit to Chełm.
JSW European tycoon
JSW is currently the largest producer of coking coal in Europe. The company estimates that it will extract approx. 5 million tonnes of gas per year. About 2,300 people would find employment in the mine. In the case of works related to the investment and subsequent mining and transport, the number of jobs could increase fivefold.
– After finalising the negotiations, JSW decided that Chełmszczyzna, in which the Jan Karski mine will be established, will be the headquarters of the JSW Wschód Company. We also intend to submit preliminary documents to the Ministry of the Environment in the coming days to apply for the right to geological information about the Pawłów fields, which are located south of the Jan Karski area – declared Daniel Ozon.
As JSW explains, its plans will not affect the operations of “Bogdanka” located in the area of Lubelski Węgiel, which extracts steam coal used in power plants. – There will be no conflict of interest because a different kind of raw material is extracted in “Bogdanka”. I even think that if our project is finalised, we can think about broadly understood cooperation – says JSW president.
The authorities of Prairie and its Polish daughter company PD Co confirm that advanced negotiations are underway with JSW regarding the mine. However, they do not want to reveal details. – Further information will be provided in the form of stock market announcements, in accordance with the regulations – said Ben Stoikovich, president of PD Co.
He has been talking about plans to build a new Prairie mine since at least 2012. In October last year, the company filed with the Regional Directorate for Environmental Protection a request for environmental decision and other documents. Since then, they have been evaluated by RDOŚ.