Former pyrite, baryte, and zinc ore mining site in Lennestadt, Sauerland, in the area of the historically significant Meggen–Halberbracht mining district.
The Grube Sicilia — Siciliaschacht site lies at Lennestadt-Meggen in the Olpe district of North Rhine-Westphalia, within the Sauerland region of Germany. It forms part of the Meggen–Halberbracht mining area, one of the most significant ore extraction districts in Germany. The broader district centred on Meggen and Halberbracht was exploited for pyrite, baryte, and zinc ore over approximately 140 years.
Mining in the Meggen area began in the early 1850s, with pyrite worked initially for the production of sulphuric acid. Development expanded after the opening of the Lennetalbahn railway in the 1860s. The Meggener mining operations passed through several ownerships and by the late 1920s were the leading pyrite and baryte producers in the world.
Production ended in 1992 due to the exhaustion of economically extractable reserves. The specific field name Siegenafeld has not been individually documented in the consulted sources; it may represent a subsidiary concession or field name within the wider Meggen–Halberbracht complex. The Bergbaumuseum Siciliaschacht at Lennestadt-Meggen preserves the former Sicilia shaft as a listed monument and museum.
The Meggen–Halberbracht mining district, of which the Lennestadt municipal area forms part, contains one of the most important stratiform ore deposits in Germany. The ore body, formed approximately 370 million years ago at the boundary between mid-Devonian and upper Devonian limestones, consists of pyrite and sphalerite in the centre, with galena and a surrounding layer of baryte. Pyrite extraction in the Meggen area began in the early 1850s to supply sulphuric acid production in the German chemical industry.
The development of the district was accelerated by the completion of the Lennetalbahn railway along the Lenne valley in the 1860s, which enabled bulk ore export. English mining companies acquired interests in the Meggener district and, when cheaper Portuguese pyrite deposits undercut the export market, consolidated the English-held workings into the Gewerkschaft Siegena in 1879. In 1906 the Gewerkschaft Siegena merged with the operation of the chemist Rudolf Sachtleben under the name Gewerkschaft Sachtleben.
By 1910 the mining field Ernestus near Halberbracht, granted on 22 October 1854 on iron ore and pyrite, had passed through the Sigena Sulphur Mining Co. Ltd. of London and the Aktiengesellschaft Siegener Bergwerksverein Siegena before being absorbed into the Gewerkschaft Sachtleben. By the late 1920s the Meggen workings were the leading pyrite and baryte producers in the world, with a 22 percent share of global baryte production and 25 percent of German pyrite output. During the First World War production rose significantly and the workforce grew from approximately 1,500 to nearly 3,000 between 1915 and 1918.
In 1951 the modern Sicilia shaft was sunk as the central extraction facility for the district. Production peaked in the mid-1950s when around 2,000 miners were employed above and below ground and Meggen's population reached approximately 4,600. Baryte mining was suspended in 1975.
The mine continued to produce sphalerite and galena concentrates until the economically extractable reserves were substantially exhausted. The final cessation of production occurred in 1992. After closure, former miners campaigned to preserve the Sicilia shaft installations.
The Sicilia shaft headframe, both winding machine halls, and the winding machines were listed as monuments in the Denkmalliste der Stadt Lennestadt in 1997, with further additions in 1998. The Förderverein Bergbaudenkmäler in Lennestadt was founded in 1998 and raised 700,000 DM to convert the site into a museum. The city of Lennestadt acquired the land and made it available to the association.
The Bergbaumuseum Siciliaschacht at Meggen opened in 2003. The specific field name Siegenafeld has not been separately documented in the sources consulted. Its coordinates place it within or immediately adjacent to the Meggen–Halberbracht mining district, and it is treated here as a site within that complex.