Mining by country

Mining in the Netherlands

Mining in the Netherlands: the public figures we hold so far. The World Bank puts mineral rents close to zero (2021) and ores and metals at 2.4% of merchandise exports (2025). No world production share, mine or listed company project is recorded here yet.

Mineral rents0%of GDP, 2021. Higher than 0% of countries.
Ores and metals2.4%of merchandise exports, 2025.
Governance, World Bank WGI 2025
  • Rule of law+1.67above 96% of countries
  • Political stability+0.54above 62% of countries
  • Regulatory quality+1.44above 92% of countries
  • Control of corruption+1.87above 96% of countries
Estimates from −2.5 to +2.5; the bar sits at the country's score.

Mining in the Netherlands at a glance

Mining in GDP0.6%2019. Share of national output, estimated 2019.Source: USGS
First recorded mining
1815 (Domaniale mine, Kerkrade). The earliest coal mine in the CBS timeline table opened in 1815 at Kerkrade, in the South Limburg basin. Source: Statistics Netherlands
Mining since
1850 (industrial coal mining, South Limburg basin). CBS dates mining in the South Limburg coal basin to 1850, by private companies, with the state mines added in 1902. Source: Statistics Netherlands
Defining moment
Discovery of the Slochteren gas field, 1959. CBS calls the 1959 gas discovery the death blow for Dutch coal mines. A minister announced the closure of all coal mines in 1965 and the last one closed in 1974. Source: Statistics Netherlands
Key mining regions
South Limburg coal basin (Kerkrade, Heerlen, Brunssum area) Source: Statistics Netherlands
Main mines
Oranje Nassau I (Heerlen, last to close 1974), state mines Wilhelmina, Emma, Hendrik and Maurits (historic) Source: Statistics Netherlands

Official sitesMining ministryGeological survey

Mining employment from the ILO usually counts all of mining and quarrying, often with oil and gas; national shares of GDP and exports are as each source defines them.

History of mining in the Netherlands

What the ground holds. natural gas, crude petroleum, salt, sand and gravel, clay, cadmium, lead, zinc, pig iron, steel and nitrogen. Source: USGS

  1. 1815 (Domaniale mine, Kerkrade)The earliest coal mine in the CBS timeline table opened in 1815 at Kerkrade, in the South Limburg basin.Source: Statistics Netherlands
  2. 1850 (industrial coal mining, South Limburg basin)CBS dates mining in the South Limburg coal basin to 1850, by private companies, with the state mines added…Source: Statistics Netherlands
  3. Discovery of the Slochteren gas field, 1959CBS calls the 1959 gas discovery the death blow for Dutch coal mines.Source: Statistics Netherlands

People who shaped mining in the Netherlands

How prospectors changed the worldThe full mining timeline

Mining elsewhere in Europe

RussiaSpainSwedenGermanyNorwayPolandAustriaPortugalFranceUkraine

World shares: USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries, latest year per mineral. Mineral rents, exports and governance: World Bank WDI and WGI. Trade: CEPII BACI. Projects: listed companies' announcements.

Keep exploring

Stories from the Netherlands and its minerals

The world runs on rockThe BatteryInside a lithium-ion cellThe Big Hole at Kimberley, South Africa, seen from above, with water at the bottomMining historyThe Big Hole, KimberleyDiamonds · South AfricaThe world runs on rockThe ChipThe minerals inside every computer chipGold drill-hole columns rising over the Yilgarn goldfields on a satellite map of Western AustraliaData storyUnder Western AustraliaDrill holes · Western Australia

All mining storiesThe world runs on rockAll mineralsMining by country

Cover photos from Wikimedia Commons: The Big Hole by Rudolph Botha, CC BY-SA 3.0.