Idea #582 – Visiting the coal mine of Blegny in Belgium
Situated between Liège and Maastricht, Blegny-Mine is one of four authentic coal mines of Europe the subterranean galleries of which are still accessible to the visitors, via the well of origin.
Provide with a jacket and with your helmet, come down by the cage of the mine in – 30 meters and – 60 meters underground, to understand how the coal was extracted. You will discover “bouveaux”, methods, noise of machines, work of miners ; you will live, the time of a visit, the universe at the same time hard and fascinating “Black Mouths”. Having gone back up “in the clear day”, you will follow the route of the coal in the installations of sorting and wash. Tippers, sieves, hoppers, system of encagement and décagement of the sedans, process of purge, wash and storage: all the processing of the coal will be shown to you, since the arrival of the ore up to its transport and its sale. Discover then the process of sorting and wash of the coal until its shipping. Blegny-Mine and three other major mining sites of Wallonia – The Wood of Cazier, Bois-du-Luc and Grand-Hornu – is registred on the UNESCO world heritage list.
Some Pictures
Where is it ?
Blegny Mines, Wallonie, Belgium