Log InRegister

AboutSupport UsPhotosDiscussionsSearchLearnMore

Emma mine, Brunssum, Limburg, Netherlandsi

Regional Level Types
Emma mine	Colliery (Built Over)
Brunssum	Municipality
Limburg	Province
Netherlands	Country

Once Europe's largest coal mine (1950's).

The deepest shaft was 980 metres (ca. 3,215 ft) deep, although after integration with Staatsmijn Hendrik (https://www.mindat.org/loc-193675.html) the deepest shaft was 1,058 metres (ca. 3,471 ft) deep.

Note: Please only add minerals and pictures here that were found underground! Minerals (and pictures thereof) that were found on the combined Emma-Hendrik coal dump should be added here: http://www.mindat.org/loc-29188.html.

Introduction

The Emma State Mine, named after the mother of the then Queen Wilhelmina, was a Dutch coal mine in the South Limburg coal basin that was located from 1911 to 1973 between Treebeek (then municipality of Heerlen, now municipality of Brunssum) and Hoensbroek (now municipality of Heerlen).

State mine Emma, ​​where fat coal was mainly extracted for industrial use, was the second-largest coal mine in the Netherlands. The mine had five floors constructed at 325, 410, 546, 700 and 855 meters below the surface. With more than 109 million tons of coal, it achieved the highest total net production of all mines in the Netherlands.

History

The mine initially had two shafts equipped with traditional steel shaft trestles; open steel structures fitted with large wheels to guide the shaft cables to the cages and nearby lifting machines. The electrically powered collection machines were equipped with a Koepe system.

The first major expansion took place in 1939 with the construction of shaft III. The shaft, mainly intended for coal transport, was designed as an extracting shaft. The concrete shaft tower above the shaft was equipped with an integrated lifting machine. Shaft III was a double shaft, which means that a complete lifting device could be installed in each shaft half. Initially, only elevator cars in shaft half III B, located on the Treebeek side, were used for shaft transport. To increase the capacity of the shaft for the transport of coal, both cages were replaced by a skip in 1950. This is a large loading container with which the coal is transported, fully automatically, to the unloading floor. Skip transport of coal is more efficient than the usual transport using mine carts. Not only is transport faster, but due to the lack of weight of the mine carts, there is also a significant reduction in dead load. A disadvantage is that passenger transport is not possible with a skip.

In 1962, shaft half III A (Hoensbroek side) was also put into use and also equipped for skip transport. This installation did not consist of two skips as in III B, but only one large wide skip, but with a counterweight. This made it possible to transport 25 tons of coal per haul from all floors. Together with the existing skip installation in shaft half III B (10 tons per haul), the total transport capacity of the shaft was increased to 1,200 tons per hour.

In 1966, shaft II of the mine was also converted into a skip shaft. This had a capacity of 14 tons of coal per haul. An enormous six-storey elevator cage served as a counterweight, which was used for passenger and material transport.

Because the original shafts were located far outside the centre of the concession, the distance between the shafts and the coal fields to be mined in the future became too great. It was therefore decided to build a fourth shaft. In 1947, construction of shaft IV started in Schinnen and, after much delay, it was completed in 1956. The shaft, which was located approximately 6.5 kilometres away from the other three shafts of the Emma, ​​was equipped with a 46-meter-high concrete shaft trestle with an integrated lifting machine and traditional elevator cars. Shaft IV was initially mainly intended for lowering "waschberger", a broken waste stone from the wash plant. These stones were poured above ground via a double set of downpipes in the shaft to the underground bunkers on the 325- and 410-metre floors. The rocks were used to fill the decarbonized pillars, preventing collapse, in an attempt to limit mine damage above ground. From 1961 the shaft was also used for passenger transport. After coal mining from the sloping layers in the 'saddle of Puth' was stopped in 1963, passenger transport in shaft IV came to a standstill. The shaft then remained in use as a retracting ventilation shaft until its closure.

From 1947 onwards, the Emma was connected to the Maurits State Mine (https://www.mindat.org/loc-193674.html) in Geleen (now the municipality of Sittard-Geleen) by a 13 kilometre long stone corridor. In 1963, the mine was integrated with the Hendrik State Mine (https://www.mindat.org/loc-193675.html) in Brunssum, with which it had been connected underground since 1956. The combined mines continued under the name Staatsmijn Emma-Hendrik.

Many people from Hoensbroek and the surrounding area worked at this mine. At its peak, approximately 10,000 people worked there, of whom approximately 6,000 worked underground. After its closure in 1973, employment fell sharply and there was high unemployment in this region.

Coal dump

With the mining of the coal layers, unusable waste was created from the stone tunnels and the wash plant, which was transported via the mine railway from Emma via Staatsmijn Hendrik to the joint Steenberg Emma-Hendrik (https://www.mindat.org/loc-29188.html). After the Mauritsberg stone dump of the Maurits State Mine (https://www.mindat.org/loc-193674.html), the Emma-Hendrik coal dump was the largest in Dutch South Limburg.

Demolition

The imposing shaft tower of shaft III of the Emma, ​​with its 63 meters height, was an eye-catcher in this region at the time. On Friday, October 28, 1983, after 10 years of postponement and conservation pending a possible reopening of the underground works (because the Emma-Noord reserve concession field as a strategic reserve had never been developed), the shaft tower was demolished. Due to a technical error, large concrete fragments were thrown more than 250 meters into the area when the shaft tower was blown up. Many buildings were damaged, including residential houses and the former mining police building, which suffered such damage that it had to be demolished. Three police officers were injured, several local residents were in a state of shock and, according to Mayor Louw Hoogland of Brunssum, it was a miracle that no deaths occurred. The Van Iterson cooling towers were demolished in 1985 even though they had been declared a national monument.

Present day

The Emma site, now located within the municipality of Brunssum, was remediated for a long time due to pollution by, among other things, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The discussion involved who was responsible for the pollution: DSM (as the successor to the state mines) or the government (because environmental regulations were new).

The large site of this former mine is now home to a residential area, a park and an industrial estate. There is also a road that connects Brunssum with Hoensbroek. The location of shaft III of the mine is located under the square in front of the EmmaStaete nursing home. The concrete cover of the filled-in shaft lies beneath the square.

The last company buildings of the Emma State Mine were demolished in 1994. These buildings were the former OVS building (mining school) and the Central Experimental Station.

Trivia

— The underground concession field of the Emma State Mine covered an area of ​​7,235 hectares.

— Although the location of Staatsmijn Emma was referred to as Treebeek or Hoensbroek, the mine was located on the territory of the municipality of Heerlen during the entire period of its existence, bringing the number of mines in this municipality to four.

— In 1910, a rail connection was established from the Emma State Mine to Nuth station. As a result, this mine and the later Hendrik state mine (https://www.mindat.org/loc-193675.html) were connected to the Heerlen-Sittard railway line. This railway line was later extended to the Staatsmijn Maurits (https://www.mindat.org/loc-193674.html) and the ports on the Juliana Canal, the Mijnspoor Staatsmijn Maurits - Staatsmijn Hendrik. The line, including structures, between the Geleenbeek valley and the state mine was removed around 1980. However, the railway route can be found in the buildings (green ribbon) of Hoensbroek. A tangible remnant of the line is the level crossing keeper's house located at the former Schuureikenberg level crossing in Hoensbroek.

— Visitors to the Steenkolenmijn Valkenburg (https://www.mindat.org/loc-424947.html) start their tour in a cinema where an old promotional film (called "De mannen van de 546", "The men of the 546") from Staatsmijnen/DSM is shown, recorded just before the closure in 1973 at the Staatsmijn Emma.

Other Databases

Wikipedia:	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staatsmijn_Emma
Wikidata ID:	Q2691305

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References

Go to top of page