Siege Simon

France

The “Siege Simon”, like the “Carreau Wendel” was owned by the Wendel family. It belonged to the “Compagnie des Houillères de Petite-Rosselle”, a subsidiary of the “Société des Petits-fils de François de Wendel et Cie”. At the beginning of the 20th century, the “Compagnie des Houillères de Petite-Rosselle” carried out surveys around the town of Stiring which led to the sinking of the Simon shaft 1, which reach a depth of 478m, in 1904. The “Siege Simon” started to operate on the 22 of February 1907. They year afterward they started with the construction of a coal washing plant and started sinking a second shaft (depth 499m) which entered into operation in 1914. During this time they also added a shower building, the administrative building, workshops and the thermal power station.

During the interwar period, the Siege Simon experienced further expansion. A 3rd shaft, which served as a ventillation shaft for the older shafts No. 1 and No. 2, was sunk in 1932/1933 and by 1938 the mine was producing nearly a million tons of coal a year. During the war the coal mine got severly damaged. The mine was completely flooded and the mining installations were severely damaged. It was only after the liberation of France by the Americans that the drainage and the reparation of the mine began. In 1946 the mine was declared to be dry and coal production started once more. A 4th and a 5th shaft were sank in 1948 and 1958, while shaft No3 was equipped with extraction machinery and ventilators. In 1985 an explosion due to firedamp led to the death of 22 miners, an event that ultimately led to the closure of the mine as in 1992 a tribunal held the owners of the mine liable for their death. The Siege Simon, closed its doors in 1997.