Former site of Důl Jindřich II, the deepest black coal mine in Central Europe, located northeast of Zbýšov town centre; headframe demolished 2015, shaft sealed.
Důl Jindřich II at Zbýšov was the deepest hard coal mine in Czechoslovakia and one of the deepest in Central Europe, reaching a maximum operating depth of 1,428 metres and a shaft depth of 1,458 metres. Sinking of the shaft began on 8 November 1960 in the vicinity of the older Jindřich I shaft. The mine was commissioned in 1969 and designated the central shaft of the entire Rosicko-oslavanský revír in 1973, concentrating production from the middle and northern coalfields.
The winding engine was installed in the headframe at a height of 37 metres, with a four-rope automated hoisting system manufactured by ČKD. Production continued until 28 December 1991. After a prolonged period of partial water flooding, the shaft was filled with concrete in 2015, and the headframe was dismantled in the same year.
The Museum of Industrial Railways operates on part of the former surface site.
Důl Jindřich II was sunk in the Sička area of Zbýšov by the construction enterprise VKD, n.p., work beginning on 8 November 1960 on the instruction of the then-operating Antonín shaft management. The shaft had a circular cross-section of 6 metres diameter. The upper 32 metres were lined in double-skin brickwork with latex waterproofing; below that the lining was cast concrete to the final depth of 1,250 metres of initial sinking, later extended further. In 1964 a decision was taken to develop Jindřich II as the central shaft of the entire revír, concentrating production from both the middle and the northern coalfields. The shaft was brought into commission in 1969, initially accessing the 2nd level (191 m) and 3rd level (328 m), then the 7th level (899 m), the 9th level (1,046 m), the 10th level (1,128 m), and the 11th level. In 1969 the shaft reached 1,428 metres below the surface, making Důl Jindřich II the deepest coal mine in Czechoslovakia and sharing the depth record in Central Europe.
The hoisting installation was a four-rope automated system with the type designation 4K-4016, manufactured by ČKD in 1967. The winding engine was mounted in the headframe at a height of 37 metres above the shaft collar. Between 1974 and 1975 the shaft was deepened to the 12th level (1,328 m) and the 13th level (1,428 m), with the shaft bottom reaching 1,458 metres. In 1973, following protracted debate about the revír's future structure and after the cessation of mining at Důl Václav Nosek in Oslavany, Důl Jindřich II became the undisputed central shaft of the Rosicko-oslavanský revír. A cable ropeway for transporting coal to the Oslavany power station, the revír's sole remaining coal customer, was brought into service in 1975 and placed in permanent operation in 1976.
From 1974 to 1975 the shaft reached its final working depth, establishing the maximum coal extraction level at 1,228 metres via blind shafts. Klimatizace (air conditioning) machinery was installed at the 11th level in 1980–1981 to cool the intake ventilation currents at depth, and the main ventilation fans on the Ferdinand and Františka exhaust shafts were also reconstructed at that time. The mine continued to operate as the last active shaft of the revír, with the Antonín shaft serving the upper levels as an auxiliary. The final coal was raised at Důl Jindřich II on 28 December 1991. On 18 February 1992 mining at the auxiliary Důl Antonín also ceased due to a spontaneous combustion event in old workings, bringing the entire Rosicko-oslavanský revír to a close.
Following closure, the shaft was allowed to flood. A proposal to use the mine water for drinking water supply was abandoned due to high mineral content. From 1 October 1991 the project entitled Likvidace Dolu Zbýšov had begun the decommissioning of mining plant and surface infrastructure. In 2015, the shaft was filled with concrete to a depth of 38 metres from the surface; above that a reinforced concrete capping slab 60 centimetres thick was installed with pipes for monitoring mine gas and water levels. The 37-metre headframe, described as the last of its structural type standing in the Czech Republic, was dismantled from the top downwards in 2015. A concrete truncated-pyramid monument with historical information panels was erected on the site of the demolished headframe. The Museum of Industrial Railways operates adjacent to the former shaft site on the preserved narrow-gauge colliery railway infrastructure.