Active brown coal mine in the Tuzla Canton, comprising underground and opencast workings supplying the Tuzla Thermal Power Plant.
RMU Đurđevik is an operating brown coal mine situated approximately ten kilometres south of Tuzla in the Tuzla Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Operations began in 1936 with the sinking of the first underground pit, known as Suhodanj. The enterprise now operates two principal production units: an underground mine at Đurđevik and an opencast mine at Višća.
Both supply coal to the Tuzla Thermal Power Plant. The operator, Rudnik mrkog uglja Đurđevik d.o.o., is a wholly owned subsidiary of the state utility Elektroprivreda BiH. In 2020 combined output reached 0.55 million tonnes, of which 0.13 million tonnes came from the underground workings.
Productivity declined to 0.49 million tonnes in 2021. A 2021 audit initiated restructuring and recapitalisation across the EPBiH coal group. In 2021 a twenty-year extraction concession was granted for the Višća and Đurđevik deposits.
Financial difficulties persisted into the mid-2020s, with a 2024 audit identifying losses and procurement irregularities, while national energy policy continued to press for increased output.
The Đurđevik brown coal mine has its origins in the broader Tuzla Basin coalfield, which represents one of the principal coal-bearing zones of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The enterprise began in 1936 when the first underground pit, named Suhodanj, was opened. This initial underground working established the basis for what would grow into a dual-mode operation combining underground and surface exploitation over the following decades.
During the socialist period under the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the mine developed as a key element of the planned energy economy of the region. Coal extracted at Đurđevik was directed to the Tuzla Thermal Power Plant, a relationship that has defined the mine's economic purpose throughout its history. The Višća opencast mine was developed as a surface component alongside the underground Đurđevik workings, together forming the two principal production units of RMU Đurđevik. The Separacija (coal processing) unit and the Socijalni standard i rekultivacija (social standards and land recultivation) facility were also established as organisational components of the enterprise.
Following the dissolution of Yugoslavia and the Bosnian war of 1992 to 1995, the mine continued operating as a subsidiary of the state utility Elektroprivreda Bosne i Hercegovine (EPBiH), which holds one hundred percent of the company's capital. The post-war period involved resumption of production under the restructured state energy sector. Coal extraction at Đurđevik supplies units of the 730 megawatt Tuzla Thermal Power Plant, which also provides district heating to Tuzla and Lukavac.
By 2020 combined annual output from the underground and opencast workings stood at 0.55 million tonnes, with the underground mine contributing 0.13 million tonnes of that total. Output fell to 0.49 million tonnes in 2021, a year in which EPBiH initiated a restructuring and recapitalisation programme across its seven coal subsidiary companies, including RMU Đurđevik, covering the period 2021 to 2023.
In 2021 a twenty-year extraction concession was granted to RMU Đurđevik for the Višća and Đurđevik deposits, underpinning continued operation despite national and international pressure on Bosnia and Herzegovina to reduce coal consumption in line with its Energy Community obligations and EU accession commitments. Brown coal reserves in the Đurđevik deposit alone were estimated at over 35 million tonnes, with surface reserves at Višća standing at approximately 34 million tonnes.
Production in 2022 reached 0.52 million tonnes, declining to 0.48 million tonnes in 2023. A financial audit report published in September 2024 found that RMU Đurđevik had recorded a loss of 21,271,845 KM in 2023, with accumulated losses exceeding the company's basic capital. The audit also identified irregularities in public procurement. It further noted that the mine lacked sufficient internal capacity to meet its planned 2023 output target of 846,000 tonnes, leading to the contracting of external operators for surface mining at Višća II, specifically the consortium of Junuzović-Kopex d.o.o. Lukavac and Beat BH d.o.o. Živinice.
In 2023 discussions began between EPBiH and the City of Živinice regarding the development of solar photovoltaic installations on exhausted sections of the Višća opencast pit. A proposed scheme involving six projects with a combined capacity of 62 megawatts and estimated annual generation of approximately 90 gigawatt-hours was announced in May 2023, with initial funding through a loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The installations were to be constructed on land owned by RMU Đurđevik where active mining had ceased. In late 2024, EPBiH continued to press for increased production at Đurđevik as part of measures to stabilise the Federation's energy supply, citing a deficit that had required the import of 400,000 tonnes of coal during the year.