Mine 2
Mine 2 was originally started by the Americans in 1913 but only
came into production under the Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani
(SNSK) in 1921 following the closure of Mine 1 on the opposite side
of the valley, where a coal dust explosion in 1920 had killed 26
miners.
Svalbard was evacuated in 1941 and all coal production ceased.
The mine itself was set on fire by the battleships Scharnhorst and
Tirpitz, which shelled the town in 1943. The fire continued to burn
for nearly twenty years but Mine 2 production was resumed in 1947
and continued at some level for another thirty years.
The original entrance to the mine was much lower down the valley
and this entrance dates from the 1930s. Unlike many mines, the coal
seams in the area around Longyearbyen are located well above the
valley floor; the mine workings continue at the level of the
entrance and cover almost the entire area of the mountain.
The mine workings are now sealed, but parts of the mine entrance
facilities remain open and can be reached by a short, but steep,
walk from the road.
Coal was transported from the various mine workings by a system
of overhead skips hauled by a series of aerial cable ways.
The cache is located just inside the old skip-line entrance
(with a great view down the line of wooden towers towards the old
village and the harbour) and can be located without moving or
disturbing any part of the structure. The cache is the usual
plastic freezer box, inside a dark plastic bag. Please replace it
carefully so that it is not too obvious to non-geocachers.
Remember that all these old buildings and artefacts are
important parts of the cultural heritage of Svalbard and treat them
with respect!
The original cache went missing early in 2008 but it has now
been replaced (and moved a short distance to a slightly safer
spot). The replacement cache includes the contents of an earlier,
but unregistered, cache called 'Svalcache' which some cachers had
found while searching for 'This is Mine 2'.
The old skip-line runs away down the hill, past the school, and
across the valley towards the harbour area on the other side. The
modern centre of Longyearbyen is to the right.