Puits Sainte-Pauline, Coal mine shaft in Champagney, France.
The Puits Sainte-Pauline is a coal mine shaft in Champagney with a rectangular opening that transforms into a circular section deeper underground. The shaft descends to a total depth of 546 meters below the surface.
Coal extraction at this shaft started in 1861 and was highly productive in its early years, but the operation closed permanently in 1884. The shaft was then sealed and mining activities at the site came to an end.
The mining community housed workers and their families who arrived after the 1870 war and lived in purpose-built homes here. This settlement reflects how the site was organized around the needs of the people who extracted the coal.
An information panel installed in 2017 explains the industrial history of the site to visitors. The area is accessible, but direct access to the mine shaft itself is restricted for safety reasons.
The northern slag heap still holds thousands of cubic meters of mining waste that has gradually been overtaken by vegetation since the site closed. This natural reclamation shows how plants have slowly reclaimed what was once an industrial landscape.
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