Irony's Death V. 2237; Svalbard's Only Coal Mine Floods 1 Day After Temps Hit Record High
Large water penetration in Gruve 7 (Mine 7) was discovered on Sunday July 26 during a routine inspection, the Store Norske mining company informs. The day before, a record heat of 21,7°C was measured in Longyearbyen, the highest temperature ever measured so far north in the European Arctic.
Mine 7 is located some 15 kilometers southeast of Longyearbyen and is the only remaining Norwegian operated coal mine on the Arctic archipelago. The mine supplies the local coal-power plant with about 30,000 tons of coal annually, while another 80,000 tons are exported to customers in the European metallurgical and chemical industry.
The mountain above the mine is covered by a glacier and it is melting water from this glacier that now penetrates through the rocks into the mine. Extra pumps are installed, but has so far not been able to remove more water than is coming in, the company explains. New pipes are put in place and more pumping capacity is brought in.
“We are also working on trying to get an overview of the equipment we can expect to have been destroyed and therefore need to be replaced before operations can start again,” says mining chief Per Nilssen. He says it is too early to tell when coal mining can start again.
EDIT
https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/industry-and-energy/2020/07/coal-mine-flooded-melting-glacier
