On 4 May 2026, Mine No. 7 in Longyearbyen on the Svalbard archipelago was permanently decommissioned. A symbolic key to the facility was thrown inside the tunnel, drawing a final line under 110 years of Norwegian coal mining in the region. Production had already halted in July 2025.
The story began in 1906, when American entrepreneur John Longyear founded the settlement that now bears his name. A decade later, the rights to mine the deposits passed to a Norwegian company. Mine No. 7 was opened in 1976 and produced around 80,000 tonnes of coal per year, supplying the local power station and export markets. By the early 2020s, however, the reserves were exhausted. An alternative deposit at Operafjellet was deemed both unprofitable and environmentally unacceptable: developing it would have required building a road through pristine tundra.
Longyearbyen now lives on tourism, science, and education. The only coal operation remaining on the archipelago is the Russian mine at the settlement of Barentsburg. According to CDU TEK data, monthly output there does not exceed 19,000 tonnes — all of it used to meet the settlement’s own municipal and household energy needs.
The closure of Mine No. 7 marks Norway’s definitive exit from coal mining on Svalbard. For the archipelago, it is not only the end of an industrial era but also a reorientation of the economy toward services. For Russia, Barentsburg remains the sole functioning coal outpost in the region.
Source: CDU TEK
Image: snsk.no
