| Location | |
|---|---|
  Soma coal mine Soma coal mine in Turkey | |
| Manisa Province | |
| Country | Turkey |
| Coordinates | 39°4′37.90″N27°31′30.93″E / 39.0771944°N 27.5252583°E Coordinates: 39°4′37.90″N27°31′30.93″E / 39.0771944°N 27.5252583°E |
| Production | |
| Products | Lignite |
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The Soma Coal Mine is a coal mine located near the town of Soma in the Manisa Province of Turkey. The mine has coal reserves amounting to 125.5 million tonnes of lignite, one of the largest coal reserves in Asia and the world.[ citation needed ] The mine has an annual production capacity of 2 million tonnes of coal. [1] [ not in citation given ] The mine, a public property, is operated by the private sector company Soma Kömür İşletmeleri A.Ş..
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements; chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed if dead plant matter decays into peat and over millions of years the heat and pressure of deep burial converts the peat into coal.
Soma is a town and district of Manisa Province in the Aegean region of Turkey. According to the 2009 census, the population of the district is 101,011, of which 74,158 live in the town of Soma. The district covers an area of 839 km2 (324 sq mi), and the town lies at an elevation of 161 m (528 ft).
Manisa Province is a province in western Turkey. Its neighboring provinces are İzmir to the west, Aydın to the south, Denizli to the southeast, Uşak to the east, Kütahya to the northeast, and Balıkesir to the north. The seat of the province is the city of Manisa. Its provincial capital is the city of Manisa. The traffic code is 45.
In May 2014, a disaster took place in the mine, killing 301 people.
On 13 May 2014, an explosion at Eynez coal mine in Soma, Manisa, Turkey, caused an underground mine fire, which burned until 15 May. In total, 301 people were killed in what was the worst mine disaster in Turkey's history. The mine, operated by coal producer Soma Kömür İşletmeleri A.Ş., suffered an explosion, the cause of which is still under investigation. The fire occurred at the mine's shift change, and 787 workers were underground at the time of the explosion. After the final bodies were pulled from the mine on May 17, 2014, four days after the fire, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Taner Yıldız confirmed the number of dead was 301. Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) announced the names of 301 workers who died in the mine disaster and 486 people who survived but some politicians claimed that the number of dead is more than 340.
