Active kali mine shaft at Zielitz, Germany's largest and one of the world's largest potash operations, with the 70-metre Schacht 1 winding tower functioning as the principal ore-hoisting headframe.
Kaliwerk Zielitz - Schacht 1 is the Hauptförderschacht of Germany's largest kali mine and one of the largest kali operations in the world, located north of Magdeburg in Sachsen-Anhalt. The Kalisalz deposit of the Scholle von Calvörde was identified through a drilling programme begun in 1960. The DDR council decision to construct the mine followed in 1963, and shaft sinking began with a symbolic Spatenstich in 1964.
Schacht 1 reached its Endteufe of 806 metres approximately two years later. The VEB Kalibetrieb Ernst Schneller Zielitz was founded in 1968 and the first tonne of Rohsalz was wound from Schacht 1 in 1969; continuous Dauerproduktion commenced in 1973. The mine was privatised following reunification and has been part of the K+S Gruppe since the Kalifusion of late 1993.
Schacht 1 is the sole surface hoisting shaft: a circa 70-metre Förderturm of concrete construction dominating the works complex. Annual Rohsalz production has reached approximately 12 million tonnes, representing around 30 per cent of K+S Minerals and Agriculture GmbH's total output.
The kali deposit at Zielitz sits within the geological unit known as the Scholle von Calvörde, a structural feature of the Zechstein, north of Magdeburg. Systematic exploration of the deposit began in 1960 with a Bohrprogramm conducted by DDR geological authorities, which confirmed the extent and quality of a Wechsellagerung of Steinsalz- and Kalisalzbänken with an average Mächtigkeit of approximately 7.5 metres and a Wertstoffgehalt of around 11 per cent K₂O — characteristics placing the deposit among the most valuable Kalisalzlagerstätten in Germany. In 1963 the DDR Staatsrat resolved to develop the deposit; the following year, 1964, was marked by the symbolic first Spatenstich for the sinking of the first shafts. Schacht I was sunk as the Hauptförderschacht and Schacht II simultaneously as the Material- und Seilfahrtsschacht, both at the main complex near Zielitz. Approximately two years after sinking began, the Endteufe was reached: 806 metres at Schacht I and 740 metres at Schacht II.
The VEB Kalibetrieb Ernst Schneller Zielitz was founded in 1968 as the operating company; the designation honoured Ernst Schneller, a communist politician executed in 1944. As the youngest Standort of the Kombinat Kali of the DDR, the operation commenced Rohsalzförderung in 1969, winding the first tonne of Rohsalz from Schacht I. Construction of the Untertage infrastructure and above-ground processing factory continued in parallel with early extraction. By 1973 full Dauerproduktion had been achieved.
Schacht I is the sole hoisting shaft in the main complex, bringing extracted Rohsalz to the surface via a 20-tonne skip hoisting installation. Its surface headframe is a concrete Förderturm approximately 70 metres high — the tallest building on the Zielitz works — whose characteristic silhouette is visible from a considerable distance across the flat agricultural plain. A notable feature of the Schacht I headframe is a peregrine falcon nesting platform, observable via a live webcam. Schacht II, the companion shaft, has a circular cross-section with a diameter of 7.5 metres, large enough to carry 92 persons simultaneously on its Förderkorb — one of the largest shaft cages in Europe — serving for man-riding and materials transport and also as the handling point for the Untertagedeponie (UTD). Two further Wetterschächte, Schacht III and Schacht IV, designated Ramstedt I and II, are located approximately 3.5 kilometres north of the central complex in a Doppelschachtanlage configuration, but without surface buildings. A fifth shaft, Schacht V at Loitsche, was planned as a further Wetterschacht north-east of the central complex but sinking was abandoned in 1990 at 230 metres depth.
Following German reunification in 1989–90, the VEB was privatised. The Kombinat Kali structures were dissolved. On 1 July 1993 the K+S Kali GmbH was constituted; the Kalifusion — the merger of the eastern and western German kali industries — was completed at the end of 1993, and the Kaliwerk Zielitz has been part of the K+S Gruppe since that date. The mine is now operated by K+S Minerals and Agriculture GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of K+S AG. By the mid-2010s annual output had reached approximately 12 million tonnes of Rohsalz, yielding approximately 2 million tonnes of finished Kalidüngemittel and industrial products; this represents some 30 per cent of the total annual output of K+S Minerals and Agriculture GmbH. Total cumulative production exceeded 100 million tonnes in 1989, 200 million tonnes in 2001, and 300 million tonnes in 2010. The underground extraction area encompasses approximately 61 km², extending some 19 kilometres from south-east to north-west and six kilometres from south-west to north-east, reaching maximum working depths of 1,300 metres. Approximately 90 per cent of finished products leave the works by rail via a connection to the Bahnstrecke Magdeburg–Wittenberge. Processing residues are stacked north-east of the works in Steinsalz-white Halden popularly known as the Kalimandscharo. The works employs approximately 1,800 to 2,000 persons and maintains its own gas-powered industrial power station supplying approximately 65 per cent of the works' electricity demand.