Closed Slovak lignite mine near Čáry in the Záhorie region, suspended in 2022 after 30 years of underground production.
HBP a.s. - baňa Čáry is a lignite mine located near the village of Čáry in the Záhorie region of western Slovakia, close to the town of Holíč in Senica District. Construction of the mine began in 1977, development headings were driven from 1989, and the first longwall production was recorded in 1991 with 37,495 tonnes of lignite extracted. The deposit produces low-sulphur lignite with a stable calorific value from seams at a working depth of approximately 180 metres.
The mine operated under several successive corporate identities — as Baňa Záhorie, then Baňa Dolina-Záhorie, then Baňa Čáry a.s. — before being acquired by Hornonitrianske bane Prievidza (HBP) in 2015–2016. Annual production was around 170,000 tonnes by 2018. Mining was suspended in October 2022 when complex hydrogeological conditions at depth created safety concerns, and the mine employed 222 workers at the time of suspension.
Slovakia's lignite mining sector ceased entirely by the end of 2023.
The Čáry lignite deposit lies in the Vienna Basin, in the Záhorie lowland of western Slovakia between the Small Carpathians and the Morava River. Construction of the mine infrastructure began in 1977, according to the official history of the village of Čáry, with the development of opening and preparation headings carried out from 1989. First longwall extraction commenced in 1991, when 37,495 tonnes of lignite were produced. Between 1991 and 2006 the mine, then operating under the name Baňa Záhorie, produced a cumulative total of 3,838,545 tonnes of lignite.
The deposit is characterised by low sulphur content and a stable heating capacity, qualities that made it suitable for combustion in fluid-bed boilers meeting environmental standards. The seams are worked at a depth of approximately 180 metres using longwall methods. At its later operational peak the mine extracted around 170,000 tonnes of lignite per year, with plans discussed to expand output to between 350,000 and 500,000 tonnes annually.
The mine passed through several corporate forms. It operated as Baňa Záhorie before being reorganised as Baňa Dolina, a.s. In 2005 a mining accident occurred at the site. The company Baňa Čáry, a.s., the successor entity, applied to the Slovak Ministry of Economy in 2008 for state aid of 116 million Slovak korunas to fund shaft revitalisation and equipment investment. It was acquired by Hornonitrianske bane Prievidza a.s. (HBP) in December 2015, consolidating all active lignite mining in Slovakia under a single operator. With HBP's absorption of the mine, Baňa Čáry, a.s. was dissolved as a separate entity.
In October 2022, HBP suspended operations at Čáry after encountering complex technical and hydrogeological conditions at working depth that posed safety risks to underground workers. At the time of suspension 222 employees worked at the mine, of whom 134 were subsequently subject to collective redundancy proceedings. Some staff were transferred to HBP's still-active Nováky mine. The decision on whether to resume extraction was stated to depend on stabilisation of hydrogeological conditions and assessment of technical feasibility; however, Slovak government policy required the cessation of all lignite mining by the end of 2023. HBP's last operating mine, Nováky, closed in December 2023, ending lignite mining in Slovakia. Baňa Čáry is described in sources as the youngest lignite mine in Slovakia.
No surviving headframe or scheduled industrial monument has been identified at the Čáry mine site in the consulted sources.