Ústí nad Labem Region assesses whether giant excavator at ČSA mine in Czechia can be preserved

The Ústí nad Labem Region wants to find out whether it will be possible to preserve the giant mining machine standing idle at the ČSA mine in the Most region. The costs of moving and maintaining it will be set out in a feasibility study, which will inform politicians’ decision on the excavator. Deputy Governor Jiří Řehák (Allies for the Region) said this. The owner is Sev.en Česká energie, whose spokesperson Eva Maříková told the Czech News Agency (ČTK) that the group is ready to work with the region.

The RK 5000 bucket-wheel excavator is 155 metres long and weighs 5500 tonnes. If it were dismantled completely, its scrap value would be 30 million crowns, according to Řehák. The region will apply to the European Union for a grant from the Just Transition Operational Programme. „It is truly unique. In the reclaimed area of former brown coal mining, it could attract tourists alongside Jezeří Baroque Chateau and the national natural monument that part of the ČSA mine is to become,“ Řehák said.

The protected area is expected to cover approximately 12 square kilometres. The residual mine pit will be turned into a lake. The mining company plans to install floating solar panels on part of the lake and is also considering a green hydrogen production facility. Photovoltaic panels will also be installed on the roofs of houses to be built around the lake. The entire area, overlooked by Jezeří Chateau, covers 5000 hectares.

The excavator, now standing idle, was briefly part of the public tour route through the mine, known as Coal Safari. It will not run this year because mining at the ČSA mine has been suspended. The giant machine was manufactured in 1983 and retired in 2016.

The Ministry of Culture previously decided not to consider whether the giant excavator should be granted heritage protection. It received a proposal to do so in early 2022 from academics at the Czech Technical University (ČVUT).