Magnesite mine Tux
The Tux magnesite mine was an Austrian mining region in which the mineral magnesite was extracted. It was the highest magnesite mining area in Europe and existed from 1927 to 1976. The mine was located a little northwest of the town of Vorderlanersbach, which belongs to the municipality of Tux , about 500 meters above the valley floor of the Tux Valley .
history
The construction of the Tux magnesite mine was due to the existence of a magnesite deposit that occurred above ground, which was discovered in 1910 by the Innsbruck geologist Bruno Sander in the Stockwiese corridor . In the following year, the Veitscher Magnesitwerke acquired the mining license for the Hosergut , to whose management area the Stockwiese had belonged at the time.
The specific planning work for the Tux magnesite mine did not begin until 10 years later, however, and this initially planned that the distillation plant required for further processing of the extracted raw material should be set up either in Jenbach or in Mayrhofen. In the further course of the planning work, however, it was decided to erect the distillation plant in the immediate vicinity of the extraction site at an altitude of around 1700 meters.
Preparations for the construction of the mine began in 1923 with the construction of an auxiliary cable car that led up from Vorderlanersbach to the factory premises. This cable car was later converted into a personnel cable car and replaced by the more modern Schrofenbahn in 1961 . From 1924 to 1926, a 9-kilometer-long material ropeway was built for the removal of the magnesite obtained, which ran over the Hoarberg to Bühel in the Zillertal (about 2 kilometers north of Mayrhofen ) to the loading station on the Zillertalbahn .
Mining and processing of the magnesite began in 1927, the operating company was the Alpenländische Bergbau- und Industrie AG . A caustic burned magnesite was produced, the daily production amount of which amounted to up to 150 tons. The magnesite powder that was produced was later used elsewhere in the manufacture of Heraklith plates and refractory bricks.
In the first two decades of mining operations, the magnesite was initially only extracted from open-cast mining. However, when the productivity of this construction method declined more and more in the course of time, underground exploration work was started from around 1946/1947. After the mining of the underground magnesite deposits had proven to be economically viable, the Barbarastollen was put into operation as early as 1948 . This marked the beginning of the era of tunnel mining in the Tux magnesite mine.
After the conclusion of the Austrian State Treaty signed in 1955, in addition to the extraction of magnesite, the mining of scheelite was also carried out, a mineral from which the heavy metal tungsten , which is important for steel production , can be extracted through further processing .
Up to 400 people were employed on the mine premises to carry out the activities directly or indirectly related to the production process. In addition to mining, they were also active in associated infrastructure companies (locksmiths, blacksmiths, electrical workshops, saws, carpenters, laboratories).
For the employees of the mine and their family members, a separate factory settlement was built around 500 meters from the factory premises. This was located in the area of the Schrofenalm and, in addition to the apartments, also included various supply facilities (canteen, grocery store, doctor's practice, elementary school) and leisure facilities (bowling alley, swimming pool, cinema).
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The Barbara Chapel , consecrated in October 1949, was built later . The design for this building goes back to plans by Wilhelm Nicolaus and Hubert Prachensky , the fresco above the entrance door is by Max Weiler .
During the Second World War, prisoners of war were also deployed in the mining area; they were housed in a separate building in the factory settlement. After the end of the war, the Austrian-American Magnesit AG (now RHI AG ) based in Radenthein took over the management of the plant in 1947.
A serious accident occurred at the beginning of 1951. Nine mine workers were killed when the old laboratory was destroyed by an avalanche.
In 1972 it was decided to close the magnesite mine and on December 21, 1976, when the last shift began, operations in the Tux magnesite mine ended.
today
After the magnesite mining had ceased, the buildings erected on the mine site were completely dismantled and the entire site was later renatured. Something similar happened with the factory settlement, here only two former residential buildings (the so-called Schrofenhäuser ) and the Barbarakapelle remained. In addition, there are only very isolated remains in the area today, which testify to the former existence of the magnesite mine.
The Horbergbahn , which leads up to the Zillertal 3000 ski area , was later built on a section of the route of the dismantled material ropeway. The remains of the foundations of the former material ropeway can still be seen between the pillars of this four-kilometer-long gondola lift.
literature
- Max Schneider: Worker culture and social behavior in mining using the example of the magnesite mining Tux in the Zillertal from 1921 to 1976 , diploma thesis European Ethnology / Folklore, Innsbruck 2001
- Dietmar Walch: Magnesitwerk Tux , 1996, illustrated book with approx. 150 historical photographs
- Freytag & Berndt-Verlag Vienna, hiking map 1: 50,000, sheet WK 151, Zillertal, Tux Alps, Jenbach-Schwaz . ISBN 978-3-85084-751-3
Web links
- Magnesite mine Tux - mining and metallurgy in the Zillertal
- The Tux magnesite-scheelite deposit in Tyrol (PDF file) (387 kB)
Coordinates: 47 ° 10 ' N , 11 ° 46' E