Opencast mine Nástup – Tušimice

Lifting equipment in the Nástup-Tušimice opencast mine, Libouš mine

The open pit Nástup Tušimice- is a lignite - opencast mining in the North Bohemian Basin in Chomutov District , Czech Republic . The towns of Chomutov , Kadaň , Březno and the municipalities of Prunéřov , Málkov , Černovice , Spořice and Droužkovice are located on the edge of the mine . The operator is Severočeské doly as , a subsidiary of the ČEZ energy company .

Course of promotion

Even before the First World War, coal was mined underground between Kadaň and the Tušimice power plant in the then Merkur mine . The Tušimice open-cast mine started operations in 1953. The Nástup mine opened up to the Merkur mine north of Prunéřov . Today most of the coal is extracted from the Libouš mine.

The operator plans to expand the mine towards the city of Chomutov by 2029. The area of the Tušimice-Libouš mine will then cover 42 km ² . A reserve of around 200 million tons of coal is to be used. Overall, the area contains geological reserves of 640 million tons of lignite, of which 350 million tons are minable.

technology

For promotion of the overburden are Schaufelradbagger the types KU 800 and used SchRs 1550 for coal are excavators of the types KU 300 S and K 800 N in use. The annual output is 13.5 million tons of coal. Around 26.5 million m³ of overburden accumulate every year. The mine has practically no external dumps ; most of the spoil is stored near Prunéřov, Kadaň and Tušimice. The main buyers of the coal are the large power plants of the operator ČEZ . In the south of the area there are the Prunéřov and Tušimice power plants, which are connected to the mine by conveyor belts .

Influence on landscape, environment and infrastructure

In the course of extraction, the course of the Hutná and Lužnička rivers was interrupted and the Prunéřovský creek was relocated. The Podkrušnohorský přivaděč channel takes in water from the slopes of the Ore Mountains and the interrupted watercourses . The Březno u Chomutova – Kadaň-Prunéřov railway line was also given up.

In the municipality of Málkov, the opencast mine uncovered a paleontologically significant profile in the 1980s, part of the former lake shore from the Lower Miocene (approx. 18 million years ago). It contained a large inventory of well-preserved fossils of mammals, reptiles, birds and other animal species. The site has been under protection as a natural monument under the name Merkur since 1993 and has been scientifically evaluated (in the scientific literature the profile is usually referred to as Merkur-North ). In 2004 the profile was destroyed after heavy rainfall with subsequent slope movements. The status as a natural monument is to be lifted.