A former fluorite and uranium mine in Kowary, open since 2000 as an underground tourist route with a guide.
The Liczyrzepa Mine in Kowary is a former fluorite and uranium ore mine, today open as an underground tourist route in the Karkonosze. The tour leads through preserved mine workings that bear witness to the turbulent 20th-century history of mining in this area.
The mine operated as a fluorite mine between 1850 and 1858. Uranium ore was already encountered here in the 19th century, but larger concentrations were not discovered until 1910, with further ones found after the Second World War.
Large-scale uranium mining began in 1948-1949. Between 1948 and 1954 around 470 tonnes of ore with an average uranium content of 0.3 per cent were extracted at the mine, yielding around 1.4 tonnes of pure uranium. Mining ended in 1954, after six years of intensive extraction. At the time the mine was part of the Kowarskie Kopalnie enterprise, later operating as the Zakłady Przemysłowe R-1.
The underground tourist route opened in 2000. The tour covers the preserved shaft number 2 and galleries numbered 7, 8, 9, 9a and 20. The route is around 1,200 metres long and is led by a guide, taking roughly an hour to walk. Inside there is a constant temperature of around 8 degrees Celsius and high humidity, so it is worth bringing warmer clothing for the visit regardless of the weather on the surface. The route is electrically lit and accessible to wheelchair users.
The guide's story covers the history of uranium mining during the Cold War, the mining technology of the time and the geology of the workings. The route also includes interactive exhibition elements and references to local legends, including tales of the old treasure hunters of the Karkonosze, known in regional folklore as the Walloons.
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