Nitra River redirected for an area  extraction of brown coal

The flow of the Nitra River was redirected to a new river bed in Opatovce nad Nitrou in the district of Prievidza on March 24. The redirection was made to open up an area for extraction of brown coal, used for energy purposes. The redirection will enable the mining company Hornonitrianske Bane of Prievidza to continue extracting coals for several more years and give jobs to about 4,000 people in the region.                                                                  

The current investment amounts to €36.513 million. The new river bed is 1,850 meters long and it has been moved by 500 to 700 meters from the old one. There are about ten million tonnes of geological reserves of brown coal in this extraction field on an area of 153 hectares, of which 7.2 million tonnes can be mined. The mining company should extract 400,000 to 600,000 tonnes annually.