page_title: Arktikugol
section_title: Pre–Second World War
hierarchical_section_title: Arktikugol / History / Pre–Second World War
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Verlassene Kohlebergbausiedlung Grumant English: Abandoned russian mining town of Grumant
context_page_description: Arktikugol is a Russian coal mining unitary enterprise which operates on the islands of Spitsbergen in Svalbard, Norway. Owned by the Government of Russia, Arktikugol currently has limited mining in Barentsburg. It has carried out mining operations and still owns the towns of Pyramiden and Grumant, with its port at Colesbukta. The company is headquartered in Moscow and is the official agency through which Russia, and previously the Soviet Union, exercised its Svalbard policy.
  The company was established on 7 October 1931 to take over all Soviet mining interests on Svalbard. At the time Grumant and Pyramiden were bought, although only Grumant was in operation. It also bought Barentsburg from Dutch interests. The company retained operation there and in Grumant until 1941, when all employees were evacuated to the mainland as part of Operation Gauntlet. Mining resumed in 1947 and commenced in Pyramiden in 1955. Declining coal deposits resulted in Grumant being closed in 1961.
  Throughout the 1960s to 80s Arktikugol carried out a series of oil drilling on the archipelago, but never succeeded at finding profitable reservoirs.
context_section_description: Barentsburg was established by the Nederlandsche Spitsbergen Compagnie, who closed operations in 1926. The company announced in 1931 that the town was for sale, and Arktikugol offered to purchase the entire company. Barentsburg was sold on 25 July 1932, including the claims and land at Bohemanflya. When purchasing Grumant, the Russian company had agreed to forfeit its right to operate a long-distance radio station. This arrangement did not apply to Barentsburg, allowing Arktikugol to establish a telegraphy station there. The issue was raised to a diplomatic level, but resolved itself after it became clear that Grumant Radio would only be relaying via Barentsburg. Arktikugol continued to build infrastructure in Grumant and mined ca. 10,000 tonnes of coal in the winter of 1931–32.
  By 1932 the population had reached 300 in Grumant and 500 in Barentsburg. The company had commenced prospecting in Colesbukta, and hoped to bring production to 120,000 tonnes from Grumant and 300,000 tonnes from Barentsburg per year. The Governor of Svalbard conducted the first inspection of the two towns in July 1933. By the winter of 1933–34 the population of Barentsburg had risen to 1,261, including about 100 children. The summer population was about 1,500, and the mines produced 180,000 tonnes in 1934. The same year Grumant had 230 employees and produced 38,000 tonnes. The following year production increased to 349,000 tonnes for both towns.
  Meanwhile, Arktikugol was working on prospecting at Pyramiden. Prospects were carried out at Kapp Heer during the winter of 1938–39, concluding with that there was only a single seam of coal. Barentsburg had a population of 1515 in 1939, of which 259 were women and 65 were children. Grumant had a population of 399, of which 56 were women and 12 children. By 1939 a town and mining complex was under construction at Pyramiden. Production started in 1940,with a crew of 80 men.
  The break-out of the Second World War initially had little influence on the operations. Norwegian and British authorities agreed on 12 August that all Allied settlements on Svalbard would be evacuated. Operation Gauntlet was initiated, with the troop carried Empress of Canada arriving on 25 August. It evacuated the entire Soviet population and brought them to the mouth of the Northern Dvina River. Four days later it evacuated the Norwegian settlements. Key infrastructure, such as docks and power stations, were destroyed and the coal heaps set ablaze. The goal was to hinder German operation while making resuming of operation easy. On 8 September 1943 the German Wehrmacht carried out Operation Zitronella, whereby all the settlements on Isfjorden, including Barentsburg and Grumant, were destroyed by fire from the battleships Tirpitz and Scharnhorst and nine destroyers.
caption: The remains of Grumant
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