Eesti Kaevandusmuusem

Estonian Mining Museum

Useful Information

Location:	Jaama 100, Kohtla-Nõmme, Toila vald, 30503 Ida-Virumaa East of Tallin on Highway 1, exit at Kohtla Järve, through the village to Kohtla-Nömme. Signposted. (59.3519579, 27.1715745)
Open:	All year Tue-Sat 11-17. [2026]
Fee:	Adults EUR 23, Families EUR 60. [2026]
Classification:	Crude Oil
Light:	Electric Light
Dimension:	T=6-8 °C.
Guided tours:	L=1,000 m, D=1.5 h, Min=10. V=25,000/a [2025]
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Eesti Kaevandusmuusem, Jaama 100, Kohtla-Nõmme, Toila vald, 30503 Ida-Virumaa, Tel: +372-33-24017. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1937	Kohtla mine opened.
1956	enrichment plant erected.
2001	mine and enrichment plant closed.
2002	show mine and mining museum opened.
2015	enrichment plant opened to the public.

Geology

Estonian graptolitic argillite is also known as dictyonema argillite, dictyonema oil shale, dictyonema shale or alum shale. It is black shale of marine origin, with common fossils which were originally named Dictyonema but were reclassified during the 1980s as members of the genus Rhabdinopora. During the Early Ordovician (480 Ma BP) two large areas of this oil bearing shale with a total size of some 23,000 km² were deposited. Part of it is on land, part under the shallow sea and on islands. Estimations are that there are some 60–70 billion tonnes of graptolitic argillite.

Description

The Eesti Kaevandusmuusem (Estonian Mining Museum) is the surface buildings of the mine with headframe, which are used as a mining museum, the enrichment plant, the underground passages and the premises. To see all takes about 4 hours. Additionally, there are various thematic tours like Miner’s Quick Course and Miner’s Full Course, Adventure package: Energy hit, and even Romance package for two with a romantic underground lunch for two. Quite spectacular is the Adventure package: Energy Hit, which takes a full day and includes the underground tour and the different parts of the museum. And there is the open-cast mine safari in the Aidu industrial landscape, sauna and dinner.

The mine is located at Kohtla-Nõmme, so it was originally named Kohtla Mining Park. The mine was opened in 1937 and there was both an open cast mine on the surface and an underground mine. Above ground a processing facility was erected and the shale was burned in a nearby power plant to produce electricity. This worked quite well for decades, and survived war, Soviet rule and more, until finally it was closed in 2001 because it was not profitable any more.

The Enrichment Plant is a limestone tower, where the mined shale was concentrated for further processing. It was renovated and is now the main building of the museum. It contains a large and interactive exhibition about the formation of oil shale and the existing deposits. Also mining, processing and use of the oil shale is explained, so this is actually the mining museum part. Additionally, the tower offers exciting views from the observation platform on the roof.

The show mine or underground tour is also dubbed the Underground Museum. While it is a guided tour, not self-guided as a museum, it is an exhibition of mining tools, machinery, daily life of the miners, and their underground rest places. It uses a one kilometer long passage with railroad tracks and includes a ride on the narrow gauge mine train. The work places of miners show the different techniques and mining technologies for oil shale mining.

The White House is the administrative building, the furniture and design is 1980. This was the management of the mine, 19 rooms show typical home of the east European bureaucracy. The rooms include manager office, nurse office, miner appartment, accounting, room of the department head, guard room, washroom, laundry drying room, archive, room with excavation measuring instruments, and the telephone switch room.

The open air part is called the Territory, the mine site is full of mining equipment. There is the pumping station, the bunker, the tunnel entrance, the sorting complex, and the boiler house. The biggest exhibits are the bucket of the largest excavator in Europe weighing 50 tons and the giant dump truck BelAZ. The open air part is typically visited self-guided, but there are also guided tours available.