The mining accident in the Mramor lignite mine near Tuzla has once again opened numerous questions about safety in mines, especially when it comes to this mine where it is worked with the help of the oldest mining methods. A fifty-one-year-old miner was killed in the accident, and the search operation lasted five days. Because of this tragedy, today is the Day of Mourning in Srebrenik.
A colleague of the injured miner, also the first digger in the Mramor Lignite Mine, says that for years, work has been done in this plant in extremely difficult conditions that affect the productivity, but also the safety of the miners.
SAMED MUMINOVIĆ, the first miner in the Mramor lignite mine
“I have been doing an extremely difficult job for 21 years. I had the opportunity to work on a complex mechanized front. Much more humane. So, we work there from a built-up space, and we produce twice as much with the same number of people.”
After it was put out of service in 2018, a tender was called several times for the purchase of a new widely mechanized front. The Syndicate of the Mramor Lignite Mine has no information that the implementation of this idea has been abandoned.
SENAD SEJDIĆ, President of the Trade Union in Mramor Lignite Mine
“The basic problem is that in the Mramor Mine there was mechanization that proved to be fantastic, that humanized the work, that led to economically justified production”.
Experts in the field of mining do not necessarily want to link the accident that happened recently in the Mramor Lignite Mine to a widely mechanized front. Professor from the Faculty of Mining and Geology in Tuzla, Sabid Zekan, believes that mining accidents also occur due to other factors.
SABIT ZEKAN, professor at the Faculty of Mining, Geology and Civil Engineering, Tuzla
“They happen because it is very difficult to extract coal as a useful raw material, separate it from the tailings area, transport it and bring it to the surface, especially here in underground mining”.
Pit exploitation is something that the representatives of Elektroprivreda and the authorities are increasingly moving away from because, in addition to the great risks, they also cost a lot.
VEDRAN LAKIĆ, Minister of Industry, Energy and Mining in the FBiH Government
“All pits where coal is mined should no longer exist in the coming period. Why? It is too expensive to go down tens and hundreds of meters to get coal. We have enough surface mines, which are still of good quality, and we must use them for next period. We have to reduce everything that increases costs for the next period”.
Minister Lakić points out that there is a safe path towards decarbonization and a just transition, but also that it is a process that will last for years. Miners are wondering how to work until then with constant demands for increased production, without adequate investment in mechanization, the need of which, while ensuring a more humane approach, they constantly point out, BHRT writes.
