The Slovene Coal Mining Museum, Velenje was originally established in 1957 at Velenje Castle as a joint venture of the Velenje Coal Mine, Velenje Urban Municipality and Velenje Museum. In 1998 the Museum was moved to its current location, the abandoned underground workings of the Škale pit below Velenje Power Station which, when built in 1929, was the largest and most important power station in the province of the Drava. The ‘Old Shaft’ was sunk in 1889 and the first ton of coal was extracted in May 1887. Designed by experts from Velenje Museum, the Museum is managed by Velenje Coal Mine, the largest and most state-of-the-art coal mine in Slovenia with an annual production of four million tons of lignite.

A visit to the museum is divided into two parts. The first is a guided tour of the underground mine workings, where visitors learn of the formation, discovery and digging of coal in the past and today. All visitors are given a coal miner's lunch and ride on the transport line and underground railway. The second part involves the viewing of a permanent collection about the development of Slovene coal mining. All of Slovenia's coal mines are presented and displays include a typical coal miner's apartment – kitchen, living room and bedrooms – presented with furnishings from the period 1920-1930.

The museum incorporates an Industrial-Ecological Museum Instruction Centre (IEMIC) which offers a range of educational programmes to schools and community groups. The Slovene Coal Mining Museum collaborates with Austrian mining museums in several projects supported by Phare Programme.