Yield (mining)

In shelf mining, the yield was defined as the pure surplus that was distributed to the owners of the Kux after the exploitation of the mined mineral wealth and deduction of all costs .

Basics

Operating a mine has always been associated with high costs, which as a rule could not be borne by one person alone. For this reason, several shareholders always formed a union under mining law . In proportion to their contributions, each of the trades received a corresponding number of kuxes. Especially in the early days, before reaching the deposit , most of the mines did not generate any profits, so that the trades had to pay additional fines . This meant that many mines were closed again after a short time if the hoped for profit did not materialize. Since the profits were mainly dependent on the mined mineral resources, overexploitation was often carried out in order to achieve profits as quickly as possible. This was not the intention of the State or of the shelf Lord why the degradation leadership of the mining officials closely monitored and exploitation was stopped.

Regulations

2/3 exploitation thalers from the mine welfare work near Clausthal , Kingdom of Hanover , Wilhelm IV. 1833

As a rule, the yield was not paid out to the individual trades in the form of metal parts, but in the form of coins. In some mining regions there were specially minted coins, so-called mine exploitation coins, which were then paid out to the individual trades. The silver and gold were kept in special storage boxes, the exploiting sticks , and transported to the corresponding coins . There the precious metals were minted into coins and transported back to the mine in the mining sticks. Other metals such as copper were sold to the smelters by the shift supervisor. However, not all of the yield was always distributed among the trades; instead, reserves were often set up for unforeseen events, such as B. Sinking the pit with subsequent swamping . The cash balance that a mine had to have before it was allowed to close the yield was prescribed. It had to be at least high enough that the probable cost of materials, taxes and other charges could be paid for three to four quarters. The respective mine also had to have a sufficient supply of ore and material.

If the shift supervisor was able to show the reserves, he was allowed to pay out the corresponding yield per quarter to the shareholders. The calculation for this was carried out at the Oberbergamt in the presence of the responsible training supervisor and the Kuxkränzler . In mining districts where there were no more Kuxkränzler, the shuttle was present in their place. This process was then called “closing the yield”. Picking up or receiving the yield was referred to as “raising the yield”. For the payment of the yield, the individual trades had to pay a fee, known as the yield count, to the mining authority. If the yield was not claimed from outside trades for several years, the amount of money had to be deposited at the town hall. This process was called “leaving the harvest standing”.

Yield mark

Gaipel building with exploitation flag on the roof top. Upper Harz Mining Museum , Clausthal-Zellerfeld

Flag of exploitation on the top of the roof, as before

Mines that still made a profit after deducting all costs and taxes were called yield mines . If a mine only returned the so-called reimbursed publisher, it was called the publishing mine . All mining mines of a mining area were listed in a directory, the yield sheet. In the Harz mountain area, mines that were in yield for the first time were marked with a yield flag, this yield flag was placed on the top of the shaft building . The flags for exploitation were made of sheet iron and were often richly decorated and provided with various symbols and dates. In addition to the name or the symbol of the colliery, the year of the yield was added as information in the yield flag. Often these also contained the initials of the chief miner . The tradition of the exploitation flags developed in the Upper Harz from the 17th century, a similar tradition could not be proven in any other mining area in the world. The kuxe of the mine were called the mine, they were the 128th part of the mine. In addition to his wages, the shift supervisor of these mining mines was often given a bonus as a gift from the trades. In the Saxon mining district, the shift supervisor and the head climber were paid a certain amount of money instead of the exploitation kux.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Explanatory dictionary of technical terms and foreign words used in mining, metallurgy and salt works. Falkenberg'schen Buchhandlung publishing house, Burgsteinfurt 1869.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Wilfried Liessmann: Historical mining in the Harz. 3rd edition, Springer Verlag, Berlin and Heidelberg 2010, ISBN 978-3-540-31327-4 .
3. ↑ Karl Heinrich Rau: Textbook of political economy, first volume of economics. Eighth increased and improved edition, CF Winter'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Leipzig and Heidelberg 1869.
4. ^ H. Rentzsch: Concise dictionary of economics. Publishing house by Gustav Mayer, Leipzig 1866.
5. ↑ ^{a b c} Swen Rinmann: General mining dictionary . First part, Fr. Chr. W. Vogel, Leipzig 1808
6. ^ ^{A b} Johann Samuel Schröter: Mineral and mining dictionary on frames, words and things from mineralogy and mining science. First volume, by Barrentrapp and Wenner, Frankfurt am Main 1789
7. ↑ ^{a b} Mining dictionary . Johann Christoph Stößel (Ed.), Chemnitz 1778
8. ^ Heinrich Veith: German mountain dictionary with evidence. Published by Wilhelm Gottlieb Korn, Breslau 1871.
9. ↑ Explanation of terms relating to mining in the Harz Mountains (last accessed on October 16, 2012).
10. ↑ The Oberharzer exploitation flags (last accessed on October 16, 2012).