Norway's state-owned coal company will extend production at its last mine in the Arctic Svalbard archipelago by two years until mid-2025 to help ensure supplies to European steel-makers at a time of war, the government said on Friday.
The decision reverses a plan to shut the mine next year when the local coal-fired power station is set to close as the islands switch to less-polluting fuel.
"There is war and significant uncertainty regarding access to critically important raw materials, including for Europe's steel production on which we also depend," Norwegian Industry Minister Jan Christian Vestre said in a statement."Norway must take its part of the responsibility for the security of supply of commodities," he said.
Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 in what it called a "special operation" to demilitarise and "denazify" its neighbour.While Store Norske Spitsbergen Kullkompani has shut its major mines in the islands over the past two decades, it has kept the smaller Mine 7 open to produce some 125,000 tonnes per year to supply the local plant and ensure some exports.
Located around 700 km north of the European mainland, Svalbard is governed under a 1920 treaty giving Norway sovereignty but allowing all nations signing it to do business there and to exploit its natural resources.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com
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