Former ventilation and skip shaft of the Staříč II plant, with the reinforced-concrete skip tower demolished by controlled explosion in March 2026.
Staříč II/3 is the ventilation and skip shaft of the závod Staříč II plant of Důl Staříč, the largest and southernmost colliery in the Ostrava-Karviná district, situated near the village of Staříč in the Frýdek-Místek district. Construction of závod Staříč II began in 1962; the shaft was sunk from 1963 using a definitive winding engine and headframe, and was deepened to its final depth of approximately 614 metres at the fourth working level. The shaft served as the ventilation shaft for the complex and was additionally equipped with a skip hoisting system that conveyed all coal production to the surface.
Coal extraction at Důl Staříč began in 1971 and continued until 31 March 2017, with total output for the entire Staříč complex amounting to approximately 47 million tonnes of coking coal. The shaft and its skip system were placed into service for methane gas recovery after coal extraction ended. The approximately 75-metre reinforced-concrete skip tower standing over jáma II/3 was demolished by controlled explosion on 12 March 2026.
Geological survey of the Podbeskydí sub-Beskyd coalfield area was carried out from the early twentieth century. The first exploratory borehole in the area was drilled at Paskov by the French entrepreneur Chanov between 1901 and 1902. Further intensive survey work followed, with over thirty boreholes drilled in the Podbeskydí between 1902 and the First World War by the firms A. Fauk a spol., Vienna, and the Austrian drilling company. These works were interrupted by the unfavourable post-war economic climate. Interest revived in the late 1930s, and between 1938 and 1945 a series of expert geological assessments were prepared, including studies by Dr. Ing. Patteický, Ing. Míček, Dr. Šusta, and Prof. Dr. Petrascheck. After nationalisation, detailed survey work recommenced in 1954 under Uhelný průzkum n.p. Ostrava, covering the Staříč II field between 1954 and 1958.
Construction of Důl Staříč was formally launched in late 1961 and early 1962, with the project designed by Báňské projekty Ostrava. The mine was the largest project for coking coal extraction in the Ostrava-Karviná revír. The dobývací prostor covered over 40 km² across the cadastral territories of thirteen communes. It was divided into three operational plants: závod Staříč I at Sviadnov, závod Staříč II at Staříč, and závod Staříč III at Chlebovice. Each plant comprised two shafts with distinct functions.
At závod Staříč II, surface works began in March 1962 with extensive ground preparation. In the summer of 1962, the collars of both the intake shaft and the ventilation shaft were established to a depth of 28 metres. In autumn 1963 full-scale sinking of the main shaft of závod Staříč II commenced using the definitive winding engine and headframe. Jáma II/3, the ventilation shaft, was sunk from 1964 to its final depth of approximately 614 metres at the fourth working level. At závod Staříč II, a record sinking rate was achieved: in 31 working days, 321.93 metres of finished shaft were sunk in a circular cross-section of 7.5 metres diameter.
Coal extraction across Důl Staříč began in 1971, when the first porub output exceeded 267,000 tonnes. Full projected production capacity was reached in 1980 when the mine's construction programme was completed. All coal production was ultimately concentrated at the Staříč locality, with the skip hoisting equipment in the ventilation shaft jáma II/3 delivering coal to the surface. Two major fatal accidents occurred at závod Staříč II: on 22 February 1975 a methane and air explosion in the R1 seam area killed eleven miners, and at závod Staříč III on 30 December 1976 a further major accident occurred. Maximum ražba output at Staříč was recorded in 1986, when 35,747 metres of drivage were completed. At its height the combined Staříč complex employed up to 3,500 workers.
In 1981 the fourth working level at závod Staříč II was reached by deepening of shaft II/4. In 1994 Důl Staříč was merged with Důl Paskov under OKD as part of the regional output reduction programme. In 2013 the management of New World Resources announced the intention to close Důl Paskov. The last coal was raised on 31 March 2017. Total output for the combined Staříč complex over its production life amounted to approximately 47 million tonnes of coking coal.
Following closure, both shafts at závod Staříč II were backfilled in 2019. The skip operating equipment of jáma II/3, after 46 years of service, was decommissioned and the skip vessels were removed from the shaft in mid-2017. The shaft was thereafter adapted for methane gas recovery, with the mine supplying gas to local cogeneration units and the distribution network. The approximately 75-metre reinforced-concrete skip tower standing over jáma II/3, a rectangular plan structure of 15.3 × 18.3 metres footprint weighing approximately 20,000 tonnes, was demolished by controlled explosion on 12 March 2026, using 1,453 boreholes and over 141 kilograms of explosive. Demolition of all surface structures at the Staříč II site is planned for completion by 2030 at an estimated total cost of approximately 270 million CZK. The site is intended for brownfield redevelopment.