Former Auvergne coalfield site with a preserved metal headframe, mining museum, and restored pithead buildings at Brassac-les-Mines.
The Mines de Brassac form part of the grand sillon houiller du Massif Central, a coalfield extending across southern Auvergne. Coal extraction in the basin dates to at least the seventeenth century, when charbon was transported by river barge on the Allier to Paris via the canal de Briare. The arrival of the railway at Brassac in 1855 changed transport patterns but also exposed the local coal to competition from the northern coalfields, shifting production toward regional markets.
After the multiplication of concessions in the nineteenth century, the basin was progressively consolidated. The mines passed to the Société Commentry-Fourchambault et Decazeville before nationalisation in 1946 under the Charbonnages de France, then integrated into the Houillères du Bassin du Centre et du Midi (HBCM). Puits Bayard, sunk from 1924 to 305 metres and later deepened to 530 metres, became the principal shaft of the basin.
The mines closed definitively on 28 July 1978. Of the approximately twenty headframes that once stood across the basin, only those of the puits Bayard and the puits des Graves at La Combelle were saved and restored. The Musée de la Mine opened in 1990 in the former winding engine building at the puits Bayard carreau.
Coal has been extracted in the basin of Brassac-les-Mines since at least the seventeenth century. In the fifteenth century the Hospitaliers of the commanderie de Charbonnier and the duc de Bourbon had contested rights to exploit local coal. By the seventeenth century, production had achieved a national reach through river transport: coal was loaded onto the large flat-bottomed vessels known as sapinières at the riverbank and floated down the Allier to the Loire, then via the canal de Briare to Paris. The bougnats, the Auvergnat tradespeople who specialised in coal, wine, and firewood in Paris, have their origin in this trade. In the early nineteenth century over 300 river workers were employed on the basin's waterways. The railway reached Brassac-les-Mines in 1855, replacing river transport but exposing the basin's output to competition from the large northern coalfields; production thereafter concentrated on regional demand.
In 1863 the Compagnie des mines de Brassac was working the La Combelle section of the basin through three shafts: the puits d'Orléans exploiting the Verrerie seam between 264 and 205 metres depth, the puits de Verrerie between 205 metres and surface, and the puits de la Ronzière serving as a supplementary winding shaft at the lower level of 178 metres. The basin straddles the border between the Puy-de-Dôme and the Haute-Loire; the northern Puy-de-Dôme portion, with the principal concessions of Selle et Combelle, was worked by Commentry-Fourchambault et Decazeville, while the Haute-Loire portion was operated by the Société des Houillères de Haute-Loire. Following the closure of the Commentry mines in 1910, many miners relocated to Brassac. In 1913 the sinking of the puits des Graves began, reaching 680 metres depth and entering service in 1924.
Also in 1924, the sinking of puits Bayard commenced, initially to 305 metres. The 1929 production at Bayard was 157,700 tonnes with 1,013 workers, the sole extraction method being long-wall advancing with complete dry-filling. In 1929 galleries were extended to connect with the Charbonnier concession and northward toward Basse-Combelle. In 1932 a new agglomeration plant with a capacity of more than 100,000 tonnes per year was brought into service. After the Second World War puits Bayard was deepened to 530 metres. The chevalement at puits Bayard measures 34 metres in height, with winding wheels of 5 metres diameter. The puits Saint Alexandre, the last of the older Charbonnier shafts, closed in 1942 but continued to serve as a ventilation return for puits Bayard until 1960; its headframe was demolished in 1979.
Nationalisation in 1946 consolidated the basin under the Houillères du Bassin d'Auvergne within the Charbonnages de France framework, later absorbed into the Houillères du Bassin du Centre et du Midi (HBCM). The thermal power station at La Taupe, fed by the Brassac and Combelle mines, entered service in 1951 and closed in 1979. Extraction across the basin became increasingly difficult and uneconomic. The mines of the Brassac basin closed definitively on 28 July 1978, with puits Bayard the last to cease production.
After closure, shafts were backfilled and the majority of the approximately twenty headframes across the wider basin, including those at Charbonnier and Frugères-les-Mines, were demolished. An association of former miners and local supporters campaigned to save the headframes at puits Bayard and puits des Graves at La Combelle. In 1989 the association purchased the chambre chaude at La Combelle. In 2000 negotiations concluded with the cession of the puits des Graves and puits Bayard sites to the communes of Auzat-sur-Allier–La Combelle and Brassac-les-Mines respectively for a nominal sum, securing their long-term preservation. The Musée de la Mine opened in 1990 in the former winding engine building at puits Bayard, created on the initiative of former miners. It contains 160 metres of faithfully reconstructed underground galleries, mining machinery, and equipment. On the carreau, the metal headframe of 34 metres height, the administrative offices, the salle des pendus, and a spoil heap survive. At La Combelle, the headframe of the puits des Graves, the chambre chaude, and the forge building remain. The masonry building of the puits de la Verrerie and parts of the Cellamines carreau are also extant.
