Active deep coking coal mine and the deepest colliery in Poland, with Shaft VI reaching 1,320 metres, part of Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa.
Kopalnia Węgla Kamiennego "Budryk" (KWK "Budryk") is a coking coal mine in Ornontowice, Silesia, and the youngest and deepest hard coal mine in Poland. Construction was authorised by a resolution of the Council of Ministers on 15 September 1978 under the name KWK "Ornontowice," and the enterprise was formally established by ministerial decree on 14 November 1978. Building work began in 1979, but proceeded slowly through the economically troubled final years of the Polish People's Republic, including a period in 1989–1990 when construction financing was suspended.
The mine came close to liquidation in the early 1990s before the decision was taken to recommence construction, financed through its own bank credit. On 1 January 1994 the mine was constituted as a separate entity, KWK "Budryk" S.A. The first coal was extracted in March 1994 as a technological start-up; formal mining operations began in July 1995. The mine remained an independent state-owned company until 4 January 2008, when it was incorporated into the structures of Jastrzębska Spółka Węglową (JSW).
In 2015 Shaft VI was deepened to 1,320 metres, making it the deepest shaft in the Polish hard coal mining industry. A major winding gear modernisation completed in December 2021 extended the shaft's cage system to the 1,290 m level, opening access to a further 122.5 million tonnes of coking coal reserves.
KWK "Budryk" is named after Professor Witold Budryk, Poland's first doctor of mining engineering, who held a doctorate from the Akademia Górniczo-Hutnicza in Kraków in 1928 and served briefly as its rector. The mine site lies within the Ornontowice I mining area covering 35.97 km², situated at the centre of the Upper Silesian coal basin across the municipalities of Ornontowice and Gierałtowice, and the cities of Knurów, Mikołów, and Czerwionka-Leszczyny. The coalfield was originally held within the reserve area of the Zabrzańskie Zjednoczenie Przemysłu Węglowego.
Planning for the mine began in the context of 1970s projections for Polish coal output to reach 200 million tonnes by 1979 and approximately 290 million tonnes by 1990. On 29 December 1977 the Council of Ministers' Resolution No. 196 fixed the location of the investment in Ornontowice. On 15 September 1978 Resolution No. 134/78 of the Council of Ministers authorised construction of KWK "Ornontowice" with a target production capacity of 20,000 tonnes of coking coal per day by 1991, anticipating first extraction in 1984, and allocated a credit of approximately 20.5 billion zloty. By ministerial decree of 14 November 1978 a state enterprise was created under the name "Kopalnia Węgla Kamiennego Budryk w budowie." Construction began with the sinking of the first shaft on 15 October 1979.
The build proceeded through the 1980s under successive directors. During the early 1990s, in what was described as the thirteenth year of construction, the mine came close to a decision on total liquidation. A review of construction costs and a reworking of the conditions for reaching target production capacity resulted in the decision to annul liquidation and recommence construction, funded through bank credit. The KWK "Budryk" S.A. joint stock company was established by an extraordinary general meeting on 2 June 1993. On 1 January 1994 the mine ceased to be classified as under construction and became a separate economic entity. The Minister of Environmental Protection, Natural Resources and Forestry issued mining licence No. 13/94 on 21 March 1994 for the extraction of coal and methane. The first train carrying material from the mine departed on 13 November 1991 following the start of underground haulage. The technological mining start-up commenced in March 1994 with the first longwall face in seam 338/2, and a second longwall face in the same seam was started in October 1994. Formal mining operations began on 14 March 1994, with independent state-owned company status in place from 15 April 1994. Formal commercial operations commenced in July 1995.
The mine produces coking coal of types 34 and 35 from two working levels at 1,000 m and 1,150 m. The mining area covers 40.6 km². Operating reserves were estimated at 223.5 million tonnes, with the deepest deposit between levels 1,050 and 1,290 m holding approximately 122.5 million tonnes of premium coking coal. Daily output capacity was reported at approximately 12,000 to 14,000 tonnes at various points in the mine's history; in 2007 daily output reached 14,000 tonnes.
In December 2005 the mine introduced ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 14001:2004 management system certifications. The mine won second place in the Coal Mine of the Year competition in 2003 and 2004, and third place in 2006.
Following a planned merger with JSW in March 2007 that was abandoned after worker protests, and amid allegations of financial irregularities investigated by the Centralne Biuro Antykorupcyjne, the process was resumed. On 17 December 2007 miners began the longest underground occupation strike in post-war European history, lasting 45 days. The strike arose from fears of wage reductions and possible closure following the planned transfer to JSW. It was resolved on 31 January 2008 through an agreement with the JSW management board. On 4 January 2008 KWK "Budryk" was formally incorporated into the structures of Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa S.A.
Shaft VI, located in Chudów at the centre of the deposit, was deepened from 1,050 to 1,320 metres between July 2011 and the end of June 2015. The deepening was undertaken during normal shaft operation until the final stages. A complication arose when crossing the Chudów fault zone between 1,170 and 1,233 metres, requiring a change in sinking technology and extending the project by approximately six months. Completion in 2015 made Shaft VI the deepest mine shaft in the Polish hard coal industry. Between February 2019 and November 2021, the winding gear in the northern compartment of Shaft VI was modernised and extended from the 900 m level to the 1,290 m level. New four-deck cages each capable of carrying 80 workers were installed in the northern compartment, and new shaft-bottom facilities were constructed at the 1,050 m and 1,290 m levels. The first tonne of coal from the 1,290 m level was extracted in mid-2017. The main operational focus of the mine has since shifted to the area around Shaft VI.