Eschbroich mine, Lontzen, Liège, Wallonia, Belgiumi

Regional Level Types
Eschbroich mine	Mine
Lontzen	Municipality
Liège	Province
Wallonia	Region
Belgium	Country

The Eschbroich mine.

This mine was part of the “Vieille Montagne Moresnet concession” with headquarters in the management building in Kelmis/La Calamine, the current MVM Museum Vieille Montagne.

The zinc mine was located about 500 meters south-east of the Schmalgraf mine.

In the middle of the site, there is a small pond. Under the surface at an unknown depth lie the remains of the mine shaft. Now the land is private property, “access denied”.
The Eschbroich mine was in operation from 1886 to 1931.

The mine produced a total of 196,023 tonnes of ore for "Vieille Montagne".
The production consisted of 69,743 tonnes of calamine, 73,326 tonnes of schalenblende, 4,579 tonnes of galena and 14,028 tonnes of pyrite (Dejonghe et al., 1993).

The mine was known for its large calcite specimens collected mainly in the 1880s and 1890s.

In 1928 workers reached a depth of 172 meters.
There were four levels: -74m, -100m, -132m and -172m.

Eschbroich was the smallest and most primitive mine in the "Vieille Montagne concession".
The compressed air for the mining machine was delivered from the Schmalgraf mine.

The staff consisted of 40 people on average. The main shaft only served to transport material and to retrieve the ore.
In Eschbroich there was no mechanical lift for the miners themselves.

There was an underground connection with the Schmalgraf mine which was 500m to the southeast.
Through this passage, the mined ore was transported underground to the Schmalgraf mine.
At the 42 meter level, a small train took the ore from Schmalgraf through the Oskarstollen to the wash plant in Neu-Moresnet.

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References