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Monday 08:00 - 16:00 Tuesday 08:00 - 16:00 Wednesday 08:00 - 16:00 Thursday 08:00 - 16:00 Friday 08:00 - 16:00

Store Norske Gruve 3

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Svalbard And Jan Mayen
Longyearbyen
Store Norske Gruve 3

Come join us on a tour in one of Longyearbyen's coal mines. Book a tour with us today and experience Book deg på en tur med oss i dag!
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Bli med oss til arbeidsplassen der gruvearbeidere slet og jobbet hardt for å få ut kull av fjellet. Dere vil forlate gruven med en ny forståelse av gruvehistorien til Svalbard og hvordan kulldrifta bygde opp Longyearbyen. Gruve 3 er den siste lavdriftsgruva som hadde produksjon fra 1971 - 1996. Når vi besøker denne gruven idag er alt slik det ble forlatt når driften ble lagt ned.. Vi viser dere lo

kene, kullvognene, utstyr og de forskjellige stasjonene i daganlegget. Turen ender med å gå inn i fjellet, der vi slår av hodelampene og får kjenne følelsen av gruvemørket og stillheten i fjellet tett på oss. Du gjør det på www.visitsvalbard.com eller
på ditt hotel i Longyearbyen.
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Come visit coal mine nr 3 and get a taste of the life of a miner. Learn about the coal mine history of Svalbard and Longyearbyen. Coal mine nr 3 was the last "low drifted" mine, which mean the coal layer was around 60-80 cm. The production shut down in 1996, and everything today appears as it was in its last days of production. We will walk around in the buildings where the workshop, coal-tip station and other equipments are. The tour ends inside the mountain where you can get the feeling of the silence and how dark it is in a mine. Book you on a tour whit us today! You can do it at www.visitsvalbard.com or at your hotel in Longyearbyen.

28/08/2025

On Svalbard you can find deposits from many time periods. The coal extracted in Mine 3 comes from the Longyear Coal Seam. This was formed 61,5 million years ago during the Early Tertiary period, marked in yellow on the map. Back then Svalbard was already in the Arctic but it was covered by lush swamps and forests in a much warmer climate. The coal is bituminous, rich in energy, and formed from ancient peat buried and compressed over time. On a guided tour of Mine No. 3 you will not only step into the mining history, but also the remains of the former landscape.

15/08/2025

Longyearbyen began as a male dominated mining town. It’s quite possible that the first women to enter the mine came in paper form. We call these clippings eye-resters, images that were pinned up in break rooms and lunch areas inside the mountain. They gave the miners something pleasant to rest their eyes on between shifts in the cold and dark mountain. When women eventually began working inside the mines as cleaning ladies, not everyone appreciated these decorations. Still, the miners stood their ground, and today, you can still spot a few eye-resters on guided tours of Taubanesentralen or in Mine 3.

06/08/2025

Located on Carl Lundh Mountain between Todalen and Bolterdalen, Mine 6 had its entrance at around 325 meters above sea level. Test tunnels were driven here in the summer of 1965, and the coal quality proved promising. On June 17, 1966, the Norwegian Parliament allocated NOK 10.9 million for initial development.

Mining started in 1967, and full production began in 1969 with eight regular low drift longwall faces. Operations ceased in 1981, with an estimated 380,000 tonnes of saleable coal left in thin seams deep inside the mine. Reopening is considered unlikely due to high costs and inefficiency. Store Norske mothballed the mine to focus efforts on Mine 3 and Mine 7. As part of the clean-up of the now closed Mine 7, the area around Mine 6 will also be removed of potential environmental toxins.

30/07/2025

Mine No. 5 was the first mine Store Norske opened outside of the Longyear Valley. The entrance and facility is located in the Endalen Valley around 10 km from Longyearbyen and production began in 1959. A major infrastructure effort followed with roads, power lines, a telephone line, and a new aerial cableway terminal all completed between 1956 and 1958. Mine No. 5 introduced a new method of coal extraction retreating longwall mining, which proved to be much more efficient than the previous advancing longwall technique. Productivity nearly doubled compared to the older mines. The mine is also known by another name, King Olav Vs Mine. Production ended in 1972.

17/07/2025

Mine no. 4 was also known as "The Mine From Hell". It is located deep in Longyear Valley, underneath the Longyear Glacier.

Construction began in 1954 and continued to the mid 1960's. Production was ready to begin in 1966. Mine no. 4 suffered from challenging geological conditions and during the summer melting water from the glacier would find its way in the mine. It made it even more difficult for the miners to extract the coal, hence the name: "The Mine From Hell". Because of the bad working conditions the production ended in 1970 because of low productivity.

📷 SNSK, Camilla Røhne

02/07/2025

This Monday, June 30th, 2025, marked a historic day for Longyearbyen.

Mine no. 7 is located in Adventdalen, about 15 km southeast of Longyearbyen. The mine has been in operation for over 50 years and was the last Norwegian coal mine in production on Svalbard. With around 60 employees working in two shifts from Monday to Friday, on a two week shift rotation it has been a key provider of Norwegian industrial jobs on Svalbard.

The coal from Mine 7 has high quality and has been in demand for the production of steel, paper, and cement, as well as for casting moulds in the metal industry. Until 2023, the mine also supplied coal to the power plant in Longyearbyen. Each year, Mine 7 delivered about 130 000 tonnes of coal to customers, mainly in Europe.

The production in Mine 7 took place within the coal seam, with a working height of between 1.1 and 1.8 meters. The mining method, called room and pillar mining, meant that about 75% of the coal was extracted, while the remaining coal was left behind as pillars to support the mountain. The machine driven mine utilizes a Continuous Miner (CM). It is electrically operated and remote controlled. This machine works its way into the coal seam and a shuttle car brings the coal to a conveyor belt. These days, the last norwegian coal is being transported by truck from Mine 7 to the storage at the harbour.

Today, Mine 7 is closed, marking the end of more than 100 years of Norwegian mining history on Svalbard. The closure represents not only the end of an era in coal production, but also significant changes for the local community, where mining has been a cornerstone of identity and culture.

📸SNSK, Jo Even Kolstad

25/06/2025

Hei Longyearbyen!

Har du noen gang lurt på hvordan den ikoniske Taubanesentralen ser ut fra innsiden, eller har du ennå blitt med inn i Gruve 3?

⚙️Ved framvisning av alkoholkort eller bostedsbekreftelse kan du som fastboende oppleve taubanen for kun kr 200,- Benytt samtidig muligheten til å kjøpe en ullbuff med motiv fra taubanen og gruve 7. Begrenset antall så vær rask. Taubanen er åpen hverdager fra 9-15, ingen forhåndsbooking nødvendig. For alle aldre

⛏Ut september har du mulighet til å oppleve Gruve 3 til en rabatert pris. Alle fastboende, samt deres venner og familie, kan besøke Gruve 3 til NOK 650,- per person. Eneste krav er at man kjører selv, kan fremvise et alkoholkort, og venner og familie er i lag med den fastboende på turen. Ta kontakt på [email protected] for booking av gruvebesøk. Aldersgrense 12 år

Velkommen!

12/06/2025

We continue our ongoing series introducing our very own Mine 3!

The construction of Mine no. 3 began in 1969, even though they had known it was possible to extract coal in the area since 1928. Coal production began during the spring of 1971 and the mine was the main income of Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani until the opening of Mine no. 7.

The working height in Mine no. 3 was in average 60 cm, so the old method of extracting coal with hand driven machinery was used. The miners had to work most of the day under these heights. The lowest measured working height in Mine no. 3 was 38 cm.

Mine no. 3 was the first mine where it started working women inside the mine. First as cleaning ladies, but later on woman had all the same functions in the mine as the men.

The mine was closed down in 1996 because it was considered to be empty, the production was shut down and all the equipment used to extract the coal were left behind inside the mountain, since it was of no vault to Mine no. 7. Mine no. 3 was the last hand driven mine.

Mine no. 3 is located in the mountain next to the airport, and is the only one in this area of Longyearbyen.

Today Mine no. 3 is the only mine which is open for visitors. Our daily tours will give you a unique insight into how they used to work. The tour takes you into the old main tunnel where you'll have the option to crawl in an old working tunnel and experience on yourself the very low working height the miners experienced daily.

📷
1-5: SNSK
6: Jo Even Kolstad

02/06/2025

Today's the day! Taubanesentralen (Cableway Central) is officially open. If you didn’t make the opening today, don’t worry — you’ll have another opportunity tomorrow. We will be open Monday till Friday 09.00 till 15.00. You can purchase your ticket in advance or on your arrival. The ticket will be valid all day. We wish you all welcome!

19/05/2025

The booking for Taubanesentralen (Cabelway Central) is now open! June 2th we have the pleasure of opening the doors to the historical builing on top of our city and we are inviting you in.

From 1908 till 1987 Taubanesentralen was the heart of Longyearbyen, that connected all the mines. Today the builing is a natural place to share to story of Longyearbyen.

Your ticket will be a day pass, which means that you can come and go as you feel like the valid day. We will be open Monday till Friday from 09.00 till 15.00. Find your ticket at gruve3.no
We are looking forward to seeing you.

22/04/2025

Did you know that the first seed storage in Svalbard was established inside Mine no. 3 in 1984? 13.000 Nordic seed samples were placed inside a container, which is still located inside Mine No. 3.

We have permafrost on Svalbard, which means the mountains are frozen all year around. Frozen conditions are needed for long term storage of seeds. The seed storage in the mine is still running. NordGen takes out experimental seeds every five years to check the quality of the seeds and how they are surviving over time.

The seed storage in the coal mine was a major inspiration for the establishment of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. Which we drive past on our way up to Mine No. 3.

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault opened in 2008. Countries and genebanks from around the world are allowed to store their seeds inside, for secure and long term storage in cold and dry seed chambers 130m deep inside the mountain. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is a worldwide insurance for the food supply of future generations.

Read more about the Svalbard Global Seed Vault at en.visitsvalbard.com/inspiration/various/svalbard-global-seed-vault or at seedvault.no/

28/03/2025

The second part of Mine 2 named no. 2B was ready in 1937 and is located 1,200m further into the Longyear Valley than the entrance to Mine no. 1A.

The day facility, meaning the building outside of the mine, is still intact to this day and very visible from the city. The day facility is located next to the part of Longyearbyen called Nybyen.

During the Second World War, in September 1941, the coal production in Longyearbyen was stopped because the settlement was evacuated. As soon as the war was over the construction of the mine continued and by 1947 the production had begun. The production of Mine no. 2A was suspended from 1960-64 due to a reduction of the prices on coal and the opening of Mine no. 5. In 1968 the production was completely stopped and the Mine no. 2A was closed. It was empty for coal.

Today, Mine no. 2B has found its way back into the hearts of the Svalbardians. Every year at the beginning of the dark season the lights in the old day facility are turned on, a Christmas tree is put up at the entrance to the mine and a postbox by the road beneath the mine. Rumour has is that Santa Claus moves into the mine during the Christmas season and children can therefore him send their wish list for Christmas. That is why Mine no. 2B is called Santa's mine.

📷
1. Mine no. 2B. 1955. Erling Johan Nødtvedt, Svalbard Museum.
2. Miners, mine no. 2B. 1955. Erling Johan Nødtvedt, Svalbard Museum.
3. Mine no. 2B seen from Sverdrupbyen. 1939. Sigrud Westby, Svalbard Museum.
4. From the lift up to Mine No. 2B. 1959. Leif A. Grøndahl.
5. Santa's mine lighting up in the Polar night. 2022. Marie Høyem.
6. Mine no. 2B seen from Skjæringa. 2024. Marie Høyem.

Address

SNSK, Store Norske Gruve 3 AS, Postboks 613
Longyearbyen
9170

Opening Hours

Monday	08:00 - 16:00
Tuesday	08:00 - 16:00
Wednesday	08:00 - 16:00
Thursday	08:00 - 16:00
Friday	08:00 - 16:00

Telephone

+4748100640

Website

http://gruve3.no/

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