Altenberg mine, Kelmis, Liège, Wallonia, Belgiumi

Regional Level Types
Altenberg mine	Open-Cast Mine (Backfilled)
Kelmis	Municipality
Liège	Province
Wallonia	Region
Belgium	Country

The Altenberg mine (Vieille Montagne) in Kelmis

In 1806, Jean-Jacques Daniel Dony was granted the concession for the Altenberg mine by Napoleon. In 1813, Dony sold the mine to François-Dominique Mosselman from Brussels. In 1837, the mine was incorporated into the newly created Société des Mines et Fonderies de Zinc de la Vieille Montagne with headquarters in Liège and Paris. By 1884 the mine was exhausted.

This ancient zinc mine was a metasomatic replacement deposit. The zinc ore occurs as the so-called “Galmei” or “Calamine” (an intergrowth of smithsonite, hemimorphite, and willemite). Only traces of sulfides occurred along the walls of the open pit.


Between 1837 and 1884 some 1,414,328 tonnes of calamine was produced, total production is uncertain due to the lack of production statistics before 1825.

The open cut mine Altenberg (Kelmisberg) mountain was located north of the road leading from Aachen to Liège. The mine was abandoned in 1884. Today the open cut is backfilled.


"Neutral-Moresnet", in Kelmis (La Calamine), was an independent state for a little over a century until, in 1920, there came an end to its independence, and it became a part of Belgium. An open cut zinc mine was located in Neutral-Moresnet that had been exploited for centuries for the production of “galmei”. The mine itself was named “Altenberg” in German and “Vieille-Montagne” in French.


"Galmei" or calamine is a mixture of zinc silicates and carbonates, smithsonite, hemimorphite, and willemite. It was used in the production of “brass”, which in turn is a mixture of copper and zinc.



The produced ores were roasted in local shaft furnaces, and then the zinc ore was converted into zinc metal by reduction with coal by muffle furnaces.

The old dumps and a settling pond are located opposite the open cut and south of the Aachen-Liège road. In this area, the former mineral processing plant was situated. Starting in 1900, the S.A. de la Vieille Montagne processed the tailings from the old Altenberg mine, ashes from the old zinc plant and hand-picked ores from other mines in this area (the Schmalgraf, Fossey, Welkenraedt, and Lontzen mines).


Later, after these mines were abandoned (~1935), ores from Germany, Spain and from overseas were dressed. Consequently, minerals from different and even overseas localities may occur in the dumps.

The name "Altenberg" or “Moresnet” on old labels sometimes refers to the mining district, sometimes to the Altenberg mine. Both were used.

Other Databases

Wikipedia:	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vieille_Montagne
Wikidata ID:	Q947317

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References