Sveagruva

Svea (Norwegian also: Sveagruva ) is a coal mining settlement on Svalbard. The corresponding pit Svea Nord is the largest active coal mine on Svalbard; the other two are still active mines are the pit # 7 in Longyearbyen and Barentsburg of the pit. Svea Nord is operated by the Norwegian state-owned company Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani AS.

Svea is the southernmost town on Spitsbergen (apart from the Polish research station at Hornsund ) and is not like most other settlements at Longyearbyen. However, there live only a few people permanently in Svea; the miners who reside usually in Longyearbyen and commute weekly by airlift to Svea, as there is no road connection to the settlement. Approximately 200 people work in Svea. Flight connections between the airport and Longyearbyen Svea done by light aircraft Dornier Do 228 - 202K about 30 times a week and Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani the AS by the Norwegian company Lufttransport AS are handled in the order. The coal produced is transported via conveyor belts from the mountain and transported by truck on to the coal depot in the harbor at Kapp Amsterdam and stored, from where it is finally removed in the summer on the water. Van Mijenfjorden freezes usually in winter.

History

Svea was built in 1917 by the Swedish company AB Svenska Spetsbergens Kolfält and went through the purchase of the Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani in the year 1934 in the Norwegian possession. The settlement was destroyed in 1944 during the Second World War, the mining operation but a short time recovered later. This ended for the time being in 1947 and should not be resumed until 1970. In the 1990s, the settlement was almost abandoned because the mines in Longyearbyen were more productive and more accessible at this time. In 2002, the new mine Svea Nord went into operation and has since become the most productive coal mine in Svalbard. It produced approximately 1.52 million tons of coal in 2011.

Climate

The climate in Svea is compared with the other settlements on Spitsbergen continental, as they do not open is by the sea but in the Sveabukta in the innermost part of the Van Mijenfjords. It thus has lower winter temperatures and low annual rainfall. The annual average temperature is -7.1 ° C in Svea, the average annual rainfall of 260 mm.