industry in central Germany. At its high point 820 miners of both sexes were employed on the open-cast mining site at Golpa-Nord. Now the excavated desert lies sunk beneath Lake Gremmin. Right in the middle [...] The old 30 kilovolt central electricity power station now houses a multifaceted museum of regional mining history. The “Orangerie” provides visitors with all the need to eat and drink and the old pit railway

based on the coal mined here. Several sand and limestone quarries also provided a number of jobs and supplied building materials for buildings and roads. Living testimony to the mining history of the Osterwald [...] For more than 300 years, coal mining at Osterwald provided energy for a small but very productive industrial area in the eastern Weserbergland, about 35 km south of Hanover. Salt production, glass manufacture [...] was built in the middle of the 19th century. Last used between 1945 and 1954, it is now a visitor mine that authentically illustrates the working conditions of the miners at that time. At the same time

The Velsen colliery is a typical Saarland mine. It´s history began in 1899 with the sinking of the Rossel shaft. Coal mining began in 1904. In 1965 the pit was deprived of its independence and no more [...] is the last pit in the Saarland still in operation. The Velsen pit was named after a Prussian coal mining official by the name of Gustav von Velsen. It was common practice in the Saar region to name pits [...] Furthermore the housing estates specially built for the colliery employers mirrored the structures in the mine, both under a Prussian and French administration. In 1916 both shafts in the pit were served by a

ploughing and in 1725 copper mining began. In the 19th century the copper mine passed into the ownership of the Dillinger mill. Copper was mined for the last time here in 1915/16. In 1992 the Friends of the [...] Coal mining is a dominant feature of the industrial and social history of the Saarland. But in Düppenweiler they used to mine copper. In 1723 a peasant came upon a lump of cupriferous rock whilst ploughing [...] the Historic Copper Ore Mine in Düppenweiler took over the site and have reconstructed it both above and below ground. At the start there was a lot of wild mining. But then a copper smelting expert by the

Rivers Fentsch and Orne. Ore mining not only took place underground; there was also enough work on the surface to ensure that the ore was mined. The Bassompierre iron ore mine in Aumetz is situated around [...] around 20 km away from the demonstration mine in Neufchef. Here visitors can see what it was like to work underground, whereas the site in Aumetz tells them all about the surface work. It contains a forge [...] bring iron ore to the surface. Today that is now all history: films and old photographs of the ore mines in Lorraine have preserved this history for current and future generations.

France is the URÊKA museum. Its subject is the mining of uranium since 1948. In the past six decades uranium has been mined at around 250 sites in France. The mine at Bessines employed as many as 1,500 people [...] interactive displays they learn about techniques of prospecting and the lives of workers in uranium mines throughout the world. The tour continues into simulated underground workings brought to life with [...] with sound and projection. On the surface the park around the museum contains many examples of mining machinery.

for leather in the region from the Middle Ages onwards to make clothing and equipment for iron-ore mining. The factory was on the bank of the river, which provided waterpower. A tannery on the site was [...] to generate electricity. Displays explain leather manufacture, the history of the region and its mines and the technology of water management and waterpower.

collection of industrial heritage assets in Spain, housed in the former premises of the Orconera Iron Ore mining company in the Lutxana district of Barakaldo. Those who visit these old industrial workshops will [...] representative sample of the evolution of the most traditional sectors of Basque industry, namely mining, iron and steel, shipbuilding, machine tooling, the paper industry, graphic arts and the like. An

local ironstone mines and other material brought by tramway from further afield. It is within the conservation village of Elsecar, initially designed and built for the workers in the mines below the site [...] Beam Engine still in its original position, anywhere in the world. It was built in 1795 to drain the mines below and last worked in 1928. The Newcomen Beam Engine is one of the most important inventions of

edge of Schneeberg in the Erzgebirge mountains is a mill for preparing mining ores. It processed material from the Siebenschlehener mine to produce cobalt, which was used as a blue colouring in the ceramic [...] in the world from the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries. It is part of the Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region World Heritage site. The excellently preserved stamp mill (pochwerk) dates from 1752-3. The [...] Schneedberg council since 1990. In the town centre, at Ob. Zobelgasse 1, the council runs a museum of mining folk art (Museum für bergmännische Volkskunst).

short mine-shaft. Guides who worked in coal mining before it ended across Germany in 2018 provide tours. Visitors can try techniques for themselves. Recklinghausen was one of the important coal-mining cities [...] training mine for the coal industry was created to demonstrate varied conditions and situations in a safe way – it therefore feels less controlled and more authentic than many ‘real’ preserved mines. In the [...] Ruhr. The tunnels used by the training mine were created as underground shelters during the Second World War in the spoil tip of the Recklinghausen II coal mine, which continued working worked until 1972

Schauinsland Mining Museum is sited near the top of a mountain, at over 1,200 m above sea level, half an hour south of the city of Freiburg. Mining in the area began in the twelfth century and peaked in [...] twentieth century. At Schauinsland itself, mining ended after eight centuries in 1954. The underground workings for silver and zinc extend for 100 km over 22 levels. The mine is today operated by the Steiber research [...] research group. Visitors tour the upper levels of the historic mine and see tunnels, caverns, railways and displays of geological samples. Guides explain the use of equipment such as power drills, diesel

Silver mining began in the Upper Harz Mountains in the Middle Ages and peaked in the sixteenth century. There were many inter-connected workings. The mine of ‘Lautenthal’s Luck’ worked until 1931 and became [...] Exhibitions on the surface explain geology and mining techniques and include historical artefacts and models. Outside are rail wagons, a nineteenth-century mine shaft and a waterwheel. [...] The workings were connected to the Tiefen Sachsen drainage tunnel, which was dug around 1600. The mine’s name goes back to at least 1681 and refers to the good fortune and prosperity it brought to the town

slate mines Barbara and Hoffnung. The mines produced roofing slates: Hoffnung from around 1850 and Barbara from around 1908. They are now linked by a sloping tunnel and opened as a visitor mine in 1997 [...] support of the local community and a volunteer association. From the car park visitors walk to the mine entrance in wooded surroundings. A visitor centre has displays that give information about geology [...] They include hand tools, equipment, examples of slates, photographs and a video of modern slate mining. From there, visitors take a guided tour underground through tunnels and caverns, 70 m below ground

Mining and the making of iron and steel were the principal economic activities from in Asturias from the mid-19th century until the closing years of the 20th century. The Museum of the Steel Industry (MUSI) [...] (MUSI) complements the mining museum at El Entrego (MUMI) and uses a variety of modern techniques to demonstrate the importance of iron and steel in the region where Pedro Duro (1811-86) established the [...] was quoted on the stock market. By 1920 it was not only a large-scale producer of steel, but also mined more coal than any other company in Spain. Visitors enter the museum through a reception area in a

foundry and workers’ housing. The museum also has displays about other industries in the area: coal mining from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century, shoemaking factories (50 of which employed 11,000

the Loos mine: nickel. The manager of the mill established a glassworks in 1763 but the mineral reserves were declining and the mine and mill closed in 1773. Volunteers began exploring the mine in 1989 [...] The mine at Loos in central Sweden was developed after 1736 by Henric Kalmeter. While searching for copper he discovered the area was a source of cobalt, which was valuable as a blue colouring for ceramics [...] rock-cut tunnels and caverns that follow the ore loads. Displays tell the story of Kalmeter and the mine with examples of minerals and glasswares.

Metal mining at Rosas on the island of Sardinia dates back to the Bronze Age. It began on a new scale after 1851. Around 15 large mines opened near the town of Iglesias. The village of Rosas grew up with [...] with housing and services for around 750 people. The mine mainly produced lead, zinc and copper until it closed in 1980. Many of the buildings have been preserved and now combine in an eco-museum with artefacts [...] of minerals and tools with graphic information panels. Visitors can walk into the Santa Barbara mining tunnel to see the railways, bare rock and methods of extraction and roof support. A very rare feature

handsome G. Asproni Institute of Mining in the centre of the town of Iglesias. The Institute was built in 1871 to teach people mining for the lead, zinc and silver mines of Sardinia. An unexpected feature [...] feature inside the building is the existence of a training mine with 400 m of tunnels dug below the Institute. These were begun in 1934 and used during the Second World War as air-raid shelters. The tunnels

The museum interprets the history of mining for lead in the Priorat region of Catalunya at the Eugènia mine, which worked from 1870 until 1972. The museum was opened in 2002 and is part of mNACTEC, the [...] lead and the long history of lead and silver mining in the region from the Bronze Age and Medieval period. The main focus is on the working of the Eugènia mine underground and its ore preparation on the