Cross-border coal

After four years of preparations, Poland has signed a deal with the Czech Republic which will enable companies from both countries to explore cross-border coal deposits. According to Reuters, the agreement will let the Netherlands-based New World Resources (NWR), which controls the Czech Republic's largest hard coal mining company, OKD, launch feasibility studies for mining the Polish Morcinek field deposits in the region. The fields have not been used for 10 years.

The contract, signed in Prague by government representatives, outlines conditions for cooperation between mining supervisory institutions from Poland and the CzechRepublic and gives each country the right to perform inspections on the opposite side of the border.

NWR has been angling for more access to coal deposits in the region and last year signed a deal with state-owned Polish firm Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa (JSW) to develop mines in southern Poland. According to a license given for coal reserve exploration, the projected work will constitute drilling 11 exploratory shafts, with a maximum length of 8,400 meters, reaching into Poland's territory. 

The Polish State Mining Authority estimates that cross-border coal reserves amount to about 40 million tonnes, but the deposits have not been fully investigated yet.

"The Morcinek mine exploration project is not ready yet. The technical aspects of this agreement, such as documentation and planning, are being taken care of by the Czech side," Katarzyna Jabłońska-Bajer, spokesperson of JSW, told the Polish Press Agency. "The lack of international agreement has halted certain actions. I am now sure they will speed up," she added.

Last year NWR teamed up with JSW to assess the feasibility of mining the Morcinek reserves. Because of its close proximity to CzechRepublic's CSM mine, the plan includes exploitation of Polish deposits from the Czech side of the border, using Czech mining infrastructure.