Dr. Geier mine (Amalienhöhe mine; Elisenhöhe mine), Waldalgesheim, Rhein-Nahe, Mainz-Bingen, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germanyi

Regional Level Types
Dr. Geier mine (Amalienhöhe mine; Elisenhöhe mine)	Mine (Abandoned)
Waldalgesheim	Municipality
Rhein-Nahe	Collective Municipality
Mainz-Bingen	District
Rhineland-Palatinate	State
Germany	Country

Geology
The iron and manganese ores of the Dr. Geier mine are hosted by Middle Devonian dolostones within an isoclinal through at the southern border of the variscan Rheinisches Schiefergebirge. Genetically they are related to the paleo-karst of the carbonate rocks overlain by marine sands of Oligocene age. Their formation is bound to cavities, caverns, sinkholes and dolines which formed within massive dolomite zones and zones with strong tectonic impact like fractures, joint-sets and bedding planes of the through structure during an uplift-period in the Eocene and the Lower Oligocene.

Up to 50 % of the doline fillings are Tertiary sands and clays. The ores are of mixed iron-manganese type with a Fe: Mn ratio of approx. 2:1. They contain variable amounts of muscovite (10–50%), goethite (30–50%), amorphous Mn oxides (20–30%) and manganite and pyrolusite ("Hartmanganerz", 0–22%). Their formation can be explained by a mixture of descendant colloidal solutions of Fe and Mn hydroxides under oxidizing conditions of the karst hydrography. The Mn and Fe can be deducted from weathered neighboring devonian shales of the Schiefergebirge and the dolomites. The ore grades were 12 – 20 wt.% Mn and averaging 29 wt.% Fe.

History
The oldest reports on manganese mining in the area date from the 17th century. At least since 1808 the Concordia mine near Seibersbach - a few km west of Waldalgesheim - was in operation. In 1832 the Sahler brothers were granted a concession to mine, followed by the Elisenhöhe claim in 1839 and the Waldalgesheim claim in 1840. Contineous mining began in 1880 by the Wandesleben brothers in open cuts. From 1885 Dr. Heinrich Claudius Geier of Mainz started extensive exploration works and sank the first shaft. These activities led to 12 concessions (mining claims) on manganese and iron. In 1904 the Gewerkschaft Braunsteinwerke Dr. Geier was founded and in 1911 all mines and concessions of the Gebr. Wandesleben GmbH (Concordia and Elisenhöhe mines, Waldalgesheim claim) were incorporated. A 7.5 km cableway to the river Rhine was built in 1912 to facilitate the ore transport to the shipping station. 1917 marks the year of the highest Mn ore production (240,853 t). At the same time the construction of the new main shaft was started (Straubenschacht). The ore was used for ironworks and partly as a pigment ore for ceramics. In 1918 673 of 1000 shares of the Gewerkschaft Braunsteinwerke Dr. Geier were acquired by Mannesmannröhren-Werke AG, Düsseldorf, followed by the purchase of another 27 shares in 1926. In 1939 all mining operations were mandated to Mannesmannröhren-Werke AG.
From 1945 to 1950 operations were controlled by the French military government, then management was mandated back to Mannesmann AG. In 1952 the Gewerkschaft Braunsteinwerke Dr. Geier was incorporated into the Gewerkschaft Mannesmann, Düsseldorf. The remaining mines Amalienhöhe, Elisenhöhe and Heerberg were modernized and extended. In the mid of the 1950s the exhaustion of the ore reserves became evident and in 1954 mining of the huge dolomite reserves started. Since 1964 a part of the dolomite was processed to dolomite sinter in rotary furnaces. The products were transported railway-bound via the Rheinstollen gallery to the shipping facility north of Bingen. During these years the mine increasingly suffered from high production costs compared to open pit dolomite mines and finally was not able to compete on the market so in 1971 the mine was closed. In total about 6.4 million tonnes Fe-Mn ore and about 2.5 million tonnes of dolomite had been recovered.

The surface installations of the Straubenschacht site are worth to be specially mentioned. The ensemble is considered to be a most important monument of mining related architecture in Germany. The impressive neo-baroque style site was planned by Markwort & Seibert from Darmstadt. Unfortunately the buildings partly are in a very bad shape today and one can only hope that there will be strong efforts to conserve and restore this outstanding cultural heritage in the near future.

[comp. Roger Lang 2009]

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References