Title: Regional Profile Report - Central Europe

industries of the world 10 . The most important material extracted in the Mansfeld-
Sangerhausen district was copper, which had been mined during a period from 1200 to
1990, in which a total amount of 2.600.000 tons of sheer copper was extracted 11 .The overall
exploitation of ore since 1200 was about 109 million tons 12 . In addition to the ore mining, the
region of Mansfeld and Sangerhausen is also known for lignite open-cast mining and
underground potash mining in part sharing shafts with copper-shale mining.
The copper shale-mining was a typical underground mining especially when the mining
shifted to the centre of the Mansfeld depression, where the seam was in part 1000m under
surface. The geological situation required that shafts of more than 650m deep had to be built.
The underground mining led to large dumps of mining waste, in parts about 150 m high. The
expanse of removed material was about 143 million m² and the cavity that arose from mining
measures circa 56 million m³. The mining in Mansfeld and Sangerhausen had to struggle
with technical difficulties, as the copper shale-seam was only about 35-40 cm thick. Another
problem was the high pressure resistance of the copper shale, so the use of machines was
problematic and working conditions were hard.
At the end of 19 th century mining was the economic basis for about 60 percent of the
population in the region 13 . The centre of the mining area had been mainly in the Mansfeld
district, with smaller districts nearby also active. In the 1960s mining activities were gradually
moved to the district of Sangerhausen, due to a lack of deposits in Mansfeld area 14 . Mining in
this area expired in 1969. The result was a loss of population in the settlements of the
Mansfeld district, while the number of residents in Sangerhausen increased after new
residential areas for miners had been built 15 . With the political change in the year 1990 the
mining activities in the whole region expired due to unprofitability. Rising production costs
10 Jankowski, G. (Hrsg.), Zur Geschichte des Mansfelder Silberbergbaus, Clausthal-Zellerfeld, 1995, S. 280
11 There was also a considerable exploitation of silver with about 14.200 tons during the same period of time. Moreover,
numerous metals included in copper-shale, e.g. Pb (Lead), Zn (Zinc), Mo (Molybden), Ni (Nickel), Au (Gold) were mined.
The “polymetalic character” of the copper-shale made the mining district of Mansfeld-Sangerhausen one of the resourcerichest
regions in central Europe. See Jankowski, G. (Hrsg.), Zur Geschichte des Mansfelder Silberbergbaus, Clausthal-
Zellerfeld, 1995
12 ibid.
13 Werte unserer Heimat, Band 38, Mansfelder Land, 1982, S. 30
14 The output area is determined by the appearance of the copper shale-seam as part of the Zechstein sediments that are
widely-spread in the region of Mansfeld. As the seam falls to the inside of the Mansfeld depression, the output area shifted
during the mining period since 1200. It began on the outside of the Mansfeld depression were the copper-shale seam reached
the surface. With the progression of the mining techniques mining was expanded to centre of Mansfeld depression. Here, the
seam was up to 1000 m below surface and deep shafts were needed to exploit the minerals
15 Werte unserer Heimat, Band 38, Mansfelder Land, 1982, S. 44
Regional Profile Mansfeld-Südharz
19