Chanois Coal Mine

The Chanois coal mine is one of the main shafts of the Ronchamp coal mines, in the French commune of Ronchamp, within the Haute-Saône department, belonging to the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region. It was the center of Ronchamp's coal mining operations from the late 19th century until the mines closed in 1958. It was therefore chosen as the site for the coal mine's ancillary facilities, including a coal preparation plant, a coking plant, and a power station. It succeeded the Saint Joseph shaft in 1895 and ceased mining in 1951. At the beginning of the 21st century, many remnants of these facilities (ruins, a large concrete hopper, converted buildings, and two imposing spoil tips) remain. Before 1873, the Ronchamp coal mining company operated in the center of the Ronchamp and Champagney coalfields. But the shafts used for this task reached the end of their production life and had to be replaced. This was the role of the Magny and Chanois shafts. Excavation of the latter began on August 25, 1873, with a useful diameter of 3.20 meters. The ventilation shaft was sunk 25 meters from the former, with a diameter of 2.20 meters. A 120-meter-high casing was added to mitigate the 300 hectoliters-per-hour inflow of water. In addition to the casing, Neut et Dumont pumps were installed. On February 16, 1877, the shaft encountered coal at depths of 580 meters, but the layer was unusable. The drilling stopped at 588 meters in the transitional ground. Research was made impossible by heavy water inflows, and the shaft remained inactive until 1895. File:1880 - Puits du Chanois.jpg|Temporary installations for drilling the Chanois shaft. File:Puits du Chanois (documents d'époque) - 05.jpg|Same view with the new permanent installations. Mining began in the 20th century, with production rising steadily from 100 tonnes a day in 1895 to 250 tonnes a day in 1900, and finally reaching 12,587 tonnes in 1901. Following restoration, the 120 hp Sainte-Pauline shaft winding engine was installed on the site, using special aloe wire ropes.