The Svea Nord longwall mine in Norway operates in the frozen Arctic circle and typically has to contend with challenges related to ice and cold, rather than fire and heat.

But on the morning of July 30 a fire broke out underground, believed to have started in a plastic pipe after a welding process. The fire spread very fast along the pipe and after a few hours 1km of the mine roadway No 3 was on fire. In addition to the pipe, coal was also burning at that time.

“We flooded the lower part of the mine during the next days and managed to extinguish some of the fire,” said Harry Higraff, technical director

The mining company, Store Norske Spitsbergen Grubekompani, contacted Global SteamExfire Inertisation Services (GSIS) for assistance. GSIS is a Dutch-Australian alliance combining Australian and Dutch expertise in mine ventilation and gas turbine engines. The company offers global services for putting out mine fires.

By August 15, GSIS had mobilised the Steamexfire, which was flown into Longyearbyen/Spitsbergen with help from the Royal Norwegian Air force and shipped by boat to the Svea Nord mine site. Fortunately, it was late summer in the northern hemisphere, leaving waterways still navigable.

The GSIS system began to fight the fire with the SteamExfire system by pumping an inert gas mixed with steam into the mine for 17 days, with one 24-hour stoppage.

The gas mixture blanketed the fire, driving the oxygen out and making conditions impossible to sustain a fire.

Once the inertisation process was complete, readings from the mine showed the fire was out. Oxygen levels were measured at less than 0.1%, while carbon monoxide levels were also very low.

Higraff said planning was underway to re-enter the mine, possibly by Monday next week, when underground temperatures are expected to have dropped.

“The plan we are working from at present is to be back in production February 1, but as you can understand, there are a lot of unknown challenges we need to overcome,” he said.