Madonna Mine, Engelskirchen, Oberbergischer Kreis, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germanyi

Regional Level Types
Madonna Mine	Mine (Overgrown)
Engelskirchen	Municipality
Oberbergischer Kreis	District
Cologne	Administrative District
North Rhine-Westphalia	State
Germany	Country

The Madonna mine was located opposite to the “Neu Moresnet 4” mine on the northern bank of the small river Leppe. A tree-lined dump on the slope near “Haus Leppe” are the only visible relics.

History

The mining file at the Bonn Mining Office (Oberbergamt Bonn) was opened as early as 1846, and the first "Mutschein" (comparable to a prospecting licence) was issued on August 17, 1850.
Evidence of earlier mining for galena was found during several tests.
The mine was then awarded on August 22, 1867.
The mine was exploited by an adit, a main shaft and a machine shaft to a depth of 114m.
Regular production of galena as “glaze ore” (galena used for glazing pottery and lead-production) took place between 1874 and 1878 with a workforce of 27 men.
In 1880, operations were discontinued following a technical defect in the pumps and the flooding of the mine on the deeper levels.
In 1946 a request was made to the Mining Office to revive the mine. However it was concluded that opening the mine and the adits will most likely be not successful.
As a side note it should be mentioned that most likely "Madonna" and the nearby located "Neu Moresnet 4" exploited the same ore vein. The "Neu Moresnet 4" mine however produced galena ore until 1908. It was not attempted to connect the adits of both mines even if the distance was only 150 to 200 m.

Mineralisation

The mine produced so called "glaze ore" - a very pure galena not suitable for silver extraction. The galena was found in veins up to several decimeters, partially grown as clumps of crystals in fissures lined with quartz crystals.
Additional mining of chalcopyrite or sphalerite, as it was common in other mines of the Ründeroth mining district, is not reported.
According to the finds on the heaps, the mineralisation consists primarily of coarse galena.
Chalcopyrite can be found in quartz veins, also as crystals in quartz cavities.
"Fahlore" (tetrahedrite-series, not analyzed) also occurs associated with galena, but mostly embedded in quartzitic base rock in vicinity of chalcopyrite. "Fahlore" is only very rarely found as crystals.
Possibly the separated deposit of "fahlore" resulted in the crystallization of pure galena.
Sphalerite is very rare and was found on the dumps only in small crystals of yellow-brown colour grown onto quartz.
Interestingly no secondary minerals and no gossan can be found on the remaining dumps. It can be assumed that the gossan was exploited in the very early mining period. Old maps from mid 1800 show an open pit, later the area of the mining site and nowadays pasture land.

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References