A miner washes the grime off his face after working a shift at Hungary’s last remaining deep-cast coal mine - an old-fashioned pit of the type that has already disappeared from most of western Europe. Soon it will be a thing of the past here too; the mine is scheduled to shut next year as part of an E.U. initiative to replace coal with cleaner energy. Environmentalists have welcomed the change, but miners are worried about their future.
. MARKUSHEGY, Hungary. REUTERS/Laszlo Balogh
Working in the Markushegy mine, about 70 km (42 miles) west of Budapest, is dark, dirty and dangerous but many of the miners are anxious about finding other jobs when the pit closes.
"Most of us are over 40. We have got used to hard physical work underground so what kind of retraining could we get?" asked one miner.
. MARKUSHEGY, Hungary. REUTERS/Laszlo Balogh
Workers at the old pit travel 340 meters underground to get to the level of the mine, then climb on a conveyor belt used to carry coal and lie head first, face down as they are carried 3.5 km (2 miles) to the coal-face.
. MARKUSHEGY, Hungary. REUTERS/Laszlo Balogh
The Markushegy miners are a close-knit community, who not only work together, but also meet to drink and socialise.
. MARKUSHEGY, Hungary. REUTERS/Laszlo Balogh
The mine is being closed after Hungary received E.U. approval for a 144 million euro grant to shut it down.
The closure will promote greener energy in the area: after 2014, a local power plant that currently runs on coal from Markushegy will switch to using biomass.
