Pit pilot

Pit pilot
General information about the mine
Tunnel mouth hole, which was used for ventilation and drainage
Mining technology	Civil engineering
Information about the mining company
Start of operation	1854
End of operation	1917
Successor use	Residential buildings
Funded raw materials
Degradation of	Lead , siderite , copper , zinc , pyrites
Greatest depth	190 m
Geographical location
Coordinates	50 ° 52 '47 .1 "  N , 7 ° 15' 18.1"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 52 '47  .1 " N , 7 ° 15' 18.1"  E
Location pit pilot
local community	Lohmar
( NUTS3 )	Rhein-Sieg district
country	State of North Rhine-Westphalia
Country	Germany
District	Deutz-Ründeroth

Remaining foundations of ore processing, pilot pit.

The Pilot pit is a former copper, lead, zinc ore and gravel pit in Lohmar - Wahlscheid in the Rhein-Sieg district in North Rhine-Westphalia . The pit was in Kirchbachsiefen , south of Wahlscheid.

Pilot pit is also a residential area belonging to the city of Lohmar .

General

The pilot pit was one of the typical small pits of the Bergisches Land , which made up the majority of the mines in this area in the 19th and 20th centuries . A detailed account of the history of the Pilot mine in Wahlscheid can be found in the publication "Metal ore mining in the lower Aggertal". When the mine was put back into operation in the middle of the 19th century, during the clearing work, old tunnels, shafts and quarries were found, which prove that ore was extracted here in earlier times. From approx. 1854 to 1866, the Schloofköpp mines (owned by the Aggertaler Kupferbergbaugesellschaft zu Hannover) and Hortensia (owned by the Mittelrheinische Kupferbergbaugesellschaft) were operated in Kirchbachsiefen. Several tons of ore were extracted. At both mines, the excavation took place above the tunnel floor and in civil engineering. Steam engines were installed for extraction and dewatering. The debris from Hortensia was processed in a processing plant attached to the mine. Due to falling metal prices and a lack of new digests, operations finally came to a standstill. The last operating period took place from 1906 to 1917. The ore deposits were examined to a depth of 190 meters below the bottom of the tunnel. Notable ore deposits were not found. At the Hortenis shaft there was a headframe operated by a steam engine. Debris extracted from the pit was processed in a processing plant below in Kirchbachsiefen. Analyzes from that time have shown that 100 kilograms of galena contained up to 34.5 g of silver. As the main owner of the mine, a captain a. D. Hoffmann, who lived at Berwartstein Castle.

After the pilot pit was closed, the Hortensia tunnel served as an air raid shelter for the civilian population during World War II . After the war, the tunnels were partially filled and the tunnel mouth holes filled in.

Relics of the Pilot pit are still visible today in Kirchbachsiefen. These include the masonry mouth holes of the Hortensia tunnel and Schloofköpp tunnel . Remnants of walls, machine foundations and clarification ponds can still be found from the processing plant. In addition to two buildings from the last operating period, the extensive spoil heaps testify to the former mining in this area.

• See also : List of ore mines in the Rhein-Sieg district

Todays use

After long preparations, the tunnel mouth hole was uncovered in May 2003 . The Düren mining authority, which issued the approval , made professional supervision by a mine operator a requirement.

During the excavations, an approximately 3 meter long pit was uncovered. This tunnel is either an explosives magazine from the 19th century or an experimental tunnel . After the end of the excavations, the tunnel mouth hole was closed with a wooden shed to secure the tunnel against unauthorized entry. With the voluntary work of the citizens of the polls, a short exhibition tunnel was prepared. In front of the tunnel entrance there is a small display board with explanations about the Wahlscheider ore mining. This tunnel was filled in again in 2014 for safety reasons.

Former machine house of the Pilot pit in the Kirchbachtal

Witnesses in kind

Two buildings still exist from the mining era and are now used as residential buildings.

See also

• List of ore mines in the Rhein-Sieg district

Individual evidence

1. ^ Albert Seemann: Metal ore mining in the lower Aggertal . Ed .: Self-published. Lohmar 1990, p. 136 .
2. ^ The pilot ore mine near Wahlscheid. (No longer available online.) Formerly in the original ; accessed on January 20, 2016 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  
3. ^ Metal ore mining in the lower Aggertal. Verkehrs- und Verschönerungsverein Wahlscheid / Aggertal, accessed on January 20, 2016 . 
4. ^ Pits in Wahlscheid. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on January 21, 2016 ; accessed on January 20, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.