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For nearly 85 years, the San Fernando mine led a life of its own on the Florz-Füsseberger vein system. It was only with the redesign of Siegerland's mining industry after World War II and the associated change of ownership that it was aligned as a joint operation.
In 1855, the miner Wilhelm Hähner, who had worked in South American mines for a long time, acquired the mining rights here and named the mining field “San Fernando” in memory of his previous area of activity. However, he died shortly afterwards. H.D.F. Schneider, the later founder of the Friedrichshütte, took over the mining rights from the heirs in 1856, subsequently acquired neighboring mining fields, and combined them with San Fernando.
The extraction initially took place above ground. Around 1860, construction of the Deep Tunnel at the valley floor began, which initially reached the northeastern located vein centers San Fernando and Ziegenberg. Later, crosscuts were also advanced in an easterly direction. By the early 1920s, the tunnel had reached a length of approximately 800 m.
https://www.herdorf.de/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/TStSanFern_01.jpgAt the bottom of the deep tunnel, the first shaft was initially sunk as a blind shaft in 1881. The steam boiler plant was also installed underground, but a few years later was moved above ground, and the conveyor system was connected via a steam line routed through the tunnel. However, the accompanying heat discharges had a negative impact on ventilation and timber expansion, so that plans for electrification of the facilities were soon made.
After electricity was generated from gas from the blast furnace at the Friedrichshütte, the San Fernando mine was connected via a 3 km long cable, and in 1906/07, the entire machinery operation was electrified. The previous blind shaft was broken through to the surface, and a new conveyor system was set up on the slope.
In the following year, the 440 m level was reached, and new, previously unknown vein centers were opened up. The former annual production of 20,000 tons could be doubled and increased to 70,000 tons by 1913. The increasing production volumes also necessitated adjustments to the surface facilities.
In 1922/23, new processing and roasting plants were constructed at San Fernando. The roasting process led to significant improvements in metal content. While the iron content of the run-of-mine ore was 30-32% and the manganese content was around 6%, these increased to about 50% and 10%, respectively, due to weight reduction during roasting. Additionally, the weight reduction of almost a third positively impacted the costs of further transport to the smelters.
https://www.herdorf.de/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/FoerderStSanFernando_01.jpgThe favorable development also led to the creation of a new shaft, which was put into operation in September 1928. The conveyor system of the old Shaft I had reached the final stage of its mechanical capacity at the 600 m level. For the continuation of underground operations, an additional blind shaft was established on this level, which was sunk down to the 930 m level.
Shaft II was constructed as a circular shaft from the surface to the final level with a diameter of 4.20 m. It was equipped with a 25 cm thick brick wall, which was reinforced with steel beams every 5 m, these were anchored to the rock. Due to this solid construction, the shaft showed no deformations throughout its operational life. Shaft II reached a depth of 1002 m from the surface.
The San Fernando mine drew attention in the scientific community due to shifts in the ore veins. Over millions of years, tectonic processes have caused dislocations of the rock formations, interrupting and displacing ore veins. If the dislocations only occurred over a few meters, they generally posed no greater problem. However, San Fernando had one of the most significant dislocations, which was extensively studied by leading German geologists in 1922/23 and is known in the scientific community as the “Malscheid Dislocation.” It runs through the mining field in a southwestern direction and causes a horizontal displacement of the southern vein section by 240 m.
After 1950, a rationalization of the underground operations began. This aimed at mechanizing the working processes and thus significantly increasing production volumes. The processing and roasting plants were also modernized. The exhaust gases generated during roasting influenced the landscape for decades; it was not until several years after the roasting ovens were shut down that tree growth resumed on the adjacent slopes of the Ziegenberg.
https://www.herdorf.de/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/SanFernandoum1950.jpgTo achieve the most efficient operational processes possible, efforts were made to create large operational units. In addition to the established joint operation with the Wolf mine1), a connection to the Große Burg mine in Altenseelbach was discussed from San Fernando.
Here, the operation had not been resumed after World War II, but the mine still possessed larger ore reserves. On the 600 m level, a connecting passage was driven forward, bypassing the basalt deposit at the Malscheid. After around 1.5 km, progress was halted in 1960. Changing conditions had led to the planning of a new shaft and conveyor system in Altenseelbach, which now appeared more favorable. However, the increasingly severe crisis in the mining sector ultimately prevented the implementation of these plans.
Although the mentioned rationalization efforts expanded the annual production volume to up to 200,000 tons by the end of the 1950s, the increasing cost pressure in the global market could not be withstood by Siegerland mining either.
As ores from abroad became cheaper than the once highly valued manganese-rich Siegerland ores despite the longer transport distances, the smelting works in the Ruhr area continuously limited the acceptance of domestic ores, making it no longer feasible to operate domestic mining at cost-covering levels. On February 14, 1962, the last mining layer at San Fernando was officially processed. A total of 6 million tons of run-of-mine ore had been extracted in the more than 100-year history of the mine.
The San Fernando pit with two deep shafts and extensive processing facilities.
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