An active underground KGHM copper ore mine north of Polkowice, the largest copper mine in Europe.
The "Rudna" Mining Plant is an underground copper ore mine north of Polkowice, one of three active copper mines in Poland and a division of KGHM Polska Miedź. It is the largest copper ore mine in Europe and one of the deepest underground mines in the world, although it is not a tourist site in the usual sense - it is an operating industrial plant.
The mine started operating on 17 July 1974. In its first year of operation, 1.9 million tonnes of ore were extracted, and in the 1980s output capacity rose to 11.3 million tonnes a year.
Rudna is the deepest mine operated by KGHM. It has 11 shafts, from 900 to 1244 metres deep. Annual output capacity is about 12 million tonnes of ore, with an average content of 1.8 percent copper and 50 ppm silver.
Rudna extracts copper ore by underground methods, using room-and-pillar mining. As a division of KGHM Polska Miedź, it is part of one of the largest copper ore mining and processing complexes in the world, alongside the company's other mines operating in the same mining area of the Legnica-Głogów Copper District. Ore extracted at Rudna is transported further for processing at KGHM's smelters and ore enrichment plants.
Rudna neighbours other mining plants in the same region, which together form one of the largest copper-mining centres in the world. The area around Polkowice and Lubin is strongly tied to mining, visible in the landscape and infrastructure of these towns, largely built and developed around the extractive industry.
Be the first! Add a comment.
You need to log in to add a comment.
Log in