In the Czech Republic, black coal mines are being closed and backfilled to prevent future use.
Industry & EmploymentCzech Republic
- Omissions
- The MEP omits that the closure is part of the Czech Republic's officially stated green energy transition policy, not an arbitrary decision to destroy usable resources.
- Backfilling and sealing shafts is standard mine-closure practice globally — required for ground stability, methane control, and environmental safety — not a procedure invented to prevent future coal extraction.
- The MEP's claim that Czechia 'desperately needs' these mines is a political opinion unsupported by cited evidence; the mines were economically marginal and the phase-out had been planned for years.
- No source independently corroborates the specific assertion that backfilling is carried out with the explicit purpose of preventing future use; the motive attributed by the MEP is interpretive.
- Sources
- SecondaryReutersThe last Czech black coal shaft will shut at the end of January, closing the door on more than 250 years of deep mining and bringing to an end the country's hard coal industry. The ČSM mine in Stonava, near the Polish border, was the last operating deep black coal mine in the Czech Republic.
- SecondaryFrance 24The Czech Republic will stop mining black coal at the end of January, closing its last mine in a switch to greener energy sources. The closure of the ČSM mine ends nearly 250 years of hard coal mining in the country.
- SecondaryRadio Prague InternationalAt the end of January, the last operating mine in Czechia will close, bringing nearly 250 years of hard coal mining to an end. The ČSM mine in the Karviná region was the country's last active deep coal mine.