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Report - - Mine W (Belgium) March 2012 | European and International Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - Mine W (Belgium) March 2012

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Jascha_EOS

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
In March of 2012 Jos,Wido and I have visited this mine

This mine is one of the seven coal mines in the area of the Belgian Kempen. André Dumont discovered the presence of coal in 1901. Six trial drills in 1902 and 1903 showed an abundance of coal in the soil beneath Kempen.

The concession of this plot was given in august 1906 to Société anononyme André Dumont-sous-Asch. Its size was 2950 ha, but in 1912 already expanded to 3080 ha.

The coal was for the first time extracted in 1924 at depths of 560 to 1040 m. In 1949 the mine employed 6834 miners. The production peaked in 1968 at 1,5 million ton.

In the underground of Waterschei, the miners battled the harsh conditions. This was a mine with a lot of fractures. The presence of so many fractures led to water seeping in and worst of all the presence of mine gas (=methane). On the 30th of March 1929 a methane explosion killed 24 miners and a large number of wounded. The fire was difficult to put out. As a last resort, they tried to close off the corridor, but this led to a new explosion. This explosion killed 3 rescuers. This disaster, the worst of the Kempen, led to the infernal bad name of this mine.

Though less destructive, the water caused havoc as well. In just one year, 1983, there were 851 wounded among the miners because of collapses and falling rocks. That year only 2800 miners were working undergrounds.

On the 10th of September 1987, the mine was closed. In total around 72 million ton were extracted.

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Click the link for more pics: http://www.lost-in-time-ue.nl/index...chei-B-March-2012&m6e73ereturnid=56&pagina=56
 

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