Dutch mining in Spitsbergen

This PhD project involves research into the history of the Dutch Spitsbergen Company (NESPICO). NESPICO was founded in 1920 and mined coal in Green Harbour fjord on Spitsbergen from 1920 to 1926. In I932 the propriertors sold the mine, including its settlement Barentsburg, to the Russian Trust Arktikugol. The PhD student will study NESPICO's motives, policy, results, including its ecological impact in Spitsbergen, in its technological, scientific, economical, political and legal context. Were NESPICO's motives purely commercial or did they have political aspects, too, connected with the policy of the Dutch government with regard to Spitsbergens international status, which was defined by the 1920 Spitsbergen Treaty? What explains NESPICO's ability to mine on a very high technological level in such a remote region? Wat was the structure of Barentsburg? What security, legal and political instruments did NESPICO have to protect its interests on Spitsbergen? What explains NESPICO's ultimate failure?
This project will contribute to the conservation of a unique item of Dutch cultural heritage outside The Netherlands. It will provide vital information for the development of sustainable cultural heritage tourism and sustainable exploitation of the natural resources in polar areas. This is of great societal significance as, as it is, both industries threaten the natural environment.

This is a sub-project of the larger LASHIPA (Large-scale Historical Exploitation of Polar Areas) project ( www.lashipa.nl ), which was among 200 international projects conducted during the International Polar Year 2007-8 ( http://ipy.arcticportal.org/ ).