Name: Paskov mine.

Location: The Paskov mine is situated about 20 km south of Ostrava, in the Czech Republic.

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

Brief History: The Paskov mine was established by merging the Paskov and Starˇícˇ mine sites. Both mines are relatively young; they were formed during the period of industrialisation in communist Czechoslovakia. The buildings at Paskov were erected in 1960 and at Starˇícˇ in 1962. Both mines were classified under high water and gas risk. Coal production started at Paskov in 1966 and at Starˇícˇ in 1971.

On January 1, 1994, the formerly separate mines of Paskov and Starˇícˇ were merged into one group mine, named Paskov. In 1999, it was decided that activities of the Paskov site were to be terminated and the site was transferred to the Odra mine.

Brief Description: Paskov is the only active mine in the Ostrava coal district. The mine operates from two sites – Starˇícˇ and Chlebovice.

Mining Method: Conventional drill and blast.

Products: Hard coking coal.

Major Infrastructure and Equipment: Conventional drilling and blasting equipment (drill jumbos and loaders) is used at development sections, owing to gas/coal outburst risks. Coal is mined with coal ploughs and single props. If the geological conditions are good, a Hemscheidt shield set is deployed with a Halbach-Braun plough.

Paskov’s preparation plant has a capacity of 550 t/h.

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 km2 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 environ- ment 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 23.1-million tonnes, comprising 9.2-million tonnes of proven reserves and 13.9-million tonnes of probable reserves.

Prospects: New World Resources has been considering the divest- ment of the Paskov mine, but it announced in July that a divestment of the mine appeared unlikely and that it was evaluating other scenarios, including a temporary or permanent shutdown of the mine.

In September, New World Resources announced that the Paskov mine was likely to remain uncompetitive in the medium term and that it had decided to close the mine. The phasing and terms of such closure will be determined after discussions with the Czech government and other stakeholders.

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, and website http://www.okd.cz

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