Mine 7 i the only mine near the town of Longyear that is still in operation. It supplies the local powerplant with coal, but mining has never been an economically viable business in Svalbard.

Svalbard (formerly known by its Dutch name Spitsbergen) is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. Situated north of mainland Europe, it is about midway between continental Norway and the North Pole.


(photo: Fredrik Naumann/Felix Features)