According to the social agreement signed in May 2021, the last mine in Silesia will be closed in 2049. The closure of the mines, and thus of the mining industry in Silesia, is to be evolutionary, allowing the industry to respond to the changing economic environment. The government and the Ministry of Industry allow for changes in this schedule, mainly due to geological conditions at individual mines.
It is worth noting that we mine not only coal, but also oil and natural gas in our country. We have also discovered large deposits of silver and copper ore in Lower Silesia, estimated at over 200 million tons of ore. The mining industry will have something to mine in Poland for a long time to come. However, before new mines are opened, the skills and abilities of the mining industry’s employees are already being used to implement technically complex infrastructure investments. – This is a huge area for the use of specialists from Silesia,” said the Minister of Industry in an interview with Dziennik Zachodni. – We’re talking about 50,000 jobs. In view of this, of course, any new company will be supported by the Ministry, we are opening all possibilities in this matter.
We still need coal
As Minister Marzena Czarnecka emphasized, the social agreement does not presuppose a specific level of production, as this will depend on the market situation, but rather the preservation of mines and jobs in them.
As part of Poland’s new presidency of the European Union, Czarnecka also announced that the country would take steps to create a sustainable development fund that would support the restructuring of coal mining and allow for a safe and affordable transition to nuclear power.
New technologies will also be important. They will allow the mining industry to adapt to a reality in which environmental requirements and conditions are becoming increasingly important, especially since the share of coal in Poland’s energy mix is still around 47% of electricity production and ensures Poland’s energy sovereignty.
Speaking of mining, it is worth remembering that the public perception that mining consists only of coal and lignite is a gross oversimplification.
