Underwater Exploitation of Coal and Overburden near Kovin to Continue – Works to Last 44 Years

In the unguarded part of the Kovin site on the left bank of the Danube, in the wider area of the settlements Malo Bavaniste and Beli Breg (the cadaster municipalities Gaj, Dubovac and Kovin), the underwater exploitation of coal and overburden is planned. The extensive geological exploration works there have identified two coal layers with accompanying sediments (gravel, sand and clay).

According to the Detailed Regulation Plan, the average value of the brown coal (lignite) is around 9,400 kJ/kg, and that of the commercial coal which is rid of impurities through underwater exploitation is around 12,000 kJ/kg. In addition to coal, as the principal mineral resource, the gravel from the overburden will be excavated as well.

It is added that all the coal exploration results so far show that the coal from the Kovin coal basin is suitable as an energy fuel for thermal power plants.

– By adjusting the width of the cut, during the excavations done by the dredger, the optimal granulation of the coal for entering the thermal power plant will be defined. The preparation and the processing of the coal for industrial needs will be done by classification (cube, nut, bean and grain coal) – the DRP says.

By its chemical and mineralogical and petrological characteristics, the coal in the Ia, I-Ib and II layers of the coal fields A and B of the Kovin coal basin belongs to soft brown coals – lignites (xylene coals), alternating with pond and earth types of coals.

The planned exploitation will last 44 years and, as such, is split into several investment phases. By choosing the most favorable dynamics of exploitation, the plan is to realize the following in the period from the first to the fifth year:

– the mining grounds with infrastructural facilities (a container settlement, a management building);
– the workshop for mechanical and electrical maintenance;
– the side mechanization workshop;
– other infrastructural facilities;
– the moving of the power lines and other power structures and grid;
– the procurement of the basic equipment and side mechanization.

In the later phases, until the 44th year, the plan includes:

– the study for the early public inspection;
– the construction of a replacement defense embankment in Field B;
– the moving of the defense embankment in Field A;
– the revitalization of the drainage canals;
– the revitalization of the road network.

The dynamics of the exploitation are planned so that, in the first year, the layer of sand up to the gravel surface will be excavated, and the gravel is to be excavated for half a year. At the beginning of the second year, the excavation of the coal in the segment will start. For the first four years, the sand is to be disposed of along the western border of the cut.

The exploitation of the coal and the accompanying sediments, according to the adopted concept, will be done by:

– the underground excavation of the sediments with five dredgers, two bucket dredgers and three refueling dredgers;
– the transport of the excavated material, the sand by a pipeline, the coal and gravel by transport crawlers (water and land ones);
- the disposal of the excavated sediments, the sand to the external and internal disposal sites, and the coal and gravel to separate disposal sites, from which they would be loaded onto barges.

According to the concept of the exploitation, during and at the end of the exploitation, within the contours of the exploitation field, all the infrastructural facilities, such as the roads, the canals and the embankment, will be revitalized and brought back to their original position and function, it is said. During and at the end of the exploitation, the whole space will be recultivated and ameliorated.

To the end of protecting the settlements of Malo Bavaniste and Beli Breg from the spreading of the sand and dust, in addition to all the technical and technological measures of protection and control, in the first year already, a green (forest) protective belt will be planted, which, after the disposal of the sand is completed, will be extended, that is, raised on both the east and the south side of the disposal site.

The plan was commissioned by the Municipality of Kovin, the drafting authority is the Department for Urban Planning, Construction and Public Utility Affairs, and the plan was prepared by the PE Urbanizam Pancevo.

Underwater exploitation began in 1991

The underwater exploitation of coal and accompanying sediments at the Kovin site started in 1991 in the Danube creek, south of the embankment, that is, in the unguarded part of Field A and has continued until the present day. Privredno drustvo Rudnik Kovin ad Kovin is in the final phase of the exploitation of coal and accompanying sediments within the approved contours of the exploitation field.

The results and experiences in the fields of mining, water management and environmental protection, acquired in a period of 30 years of underground exploitation of coal and accompanying sediments in the conditions of the Kovin site provide a solid basis for the planning and continuation of the exploitation within the same site, it is added.

The company Energetski kompleks doo Beograd has started the preparatory activities on the realization of the continuation of the underwater exploitation of coal and accompanying sediments.

The projected annual production of the Novi Kovin Mine is 900,000 tons per year of brown coal. The capacities in the overburden and the inter-layer waste rock should enable the projected annual coal production and uncover the coal layer in the quantity of a semi-annual production.

The public inspection lasts until March 22.

A. K.

Opština Kovin

JP Urbanizam Pančevo

Rudnik Kovin a.d.

Energetski kompleks d.o.o. Beograd

Department for Urban Planning Construction and Public Utility Affairs of Kovin

Malo Bavanište

Beli Breg

Gaj

Dubovac

Kovin site on Danube left bank

Kovin coal basin

underwater exploitation of coal

underwater exploitation of overburden

exploitation of gravel