Name: Darkov mine.

Location: The Darkov mine is located 19 km east of Ostrava Zábreh, in the Czech Republic.

Controlling Company: OKD, a wholly owned subsidiary of New World Resources.

Brief History: Mining in the area where the Darkov mine is located began in 1853 at the Gabriela mine. The Hohenegger and Austria mines began production in 1883 and in 1907 respectively. These mines were merged in the 1950s. The Závod 2 site began operations in 1982.

Brief Description: The Darkov mine is currently the second-largest underground mine in the Czech Republic.

The mine covers three separate mining licences – Darkov, Karviná Doly II and Stonava.

Mining Method: Longwall caving.

Products: Semisoft coking/thermal coal.

Major Infrastructure and Equipment: The Darkov mine has its own state-of-the-art preparation plant, with a nominal input capacity of 800 t/h.

Roadheaders develop most of the in-seam driveage. Drill jumbos and loaders are used to develop crosscuts and entries. Longwall caving is the main coal mining method. All longwall sections are equipped with shield sets and shearers from leading manufacturers. A central air-conditioning system, with a total output of 1 350 kW was implemented at Site 2 in 2006.

Geology/Mineralisation: The Ostrava-Karviná coal basin is a part of the Upper-Silesian basin, most of which is located in neighbouring Poland. The whole area covers about 7 000 km2, of which only an estimated 1 500 km is in the Czech Republic. The basin comprises the territory surrounding Ostrava, Karviná, Cˇeský Teˇšín, Frenštát pod Radhošteˇm and other towns, where coal-bearing layers of Carboniferous age are found.

In the Ostrava-Karviná region, the Ostrava and Karviná strata series are distinct. The Ostrava strata series was formed in a coastal environment and under the influence of volcanic activity and is characterised by high-quality coal in seams of less thickness. The younger Karviná strata series was formed after the ultimate recession of the sea.

Reserves: Total proven and probable reserves as at January 1, 2013, were 34.5-million tonnes, comprising 14-million tonnes in proven and 20.5-million tonnes in probable reserves.

Prospects: The construction of a connecting gateroad between OKD’s Karviná and Darkov mines has been completed. This has enabled OKD to close one preparation plant this year, allowing both mines to start using one centralised preparation plant with a maximum capacity of 4.5-million tonnes a year.

Contact Person: Chief external relations officer Petr Jonák.

Contact Details:
OKD, tel +420 596 262 111, fax +420 596 118 844, email info@okd.cz or vnejsivztahy.reditel@okd.cz, website http://www.okd.cz

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