Active copper mine shaft at Zakłady Górnicze Lubin, modernised from a ventilation shaft into KGHM's largest personnel and materials installation, opened in 2019 at Rynarcice.
Szyb L-VI is a shaft of Zakłady Górnicze Lubin, the oldest copper mine operated by KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. in Lower Silesia. Built in the 1970s at Rynarcice in Gmina Rudna, some distance north of the main mine complex, the shaft reached a depth of 964.3 metres and for several decades served exclusively as an intake ventilation shaft, delivering fresh air to the underground workings. Its ventilation role was performed within a shaft headframe originally designed to support a production or personnel function that was never implemented.
As exploitation of the Lubin-Małomice deposit shifted progressively northward from the mid-2010s onwards, the mine's western extraction zones were depleted, and journey times from the existing personnel shafts to active faces increased substantially. Following engineering assessments, a major modernisation project was initiated in 2015, converting L-VI into a full personnel and materials shaft with an innovative containerised logistics system. The work was completed in 2019 at a cost of approximately 300 million złoty, making L-VI the largest and most complex project in the history of the mine.
After conversion, L-VI became the deepest shaft in the ZG Lubin complex.
The Lubin copper mine was established in 1960 following the discovery of the Lubin-Małomice copper ore deposit in 1957, and was formally commissioned for exploitation on 19 July 1968. The mine operates across an area of 158 km² at depths of 550 to 1,006 metres. Its shaft network was expanded in stages as production capacity increased and the underground workings were extended.
Szyb L-VI was constructed in the 1970s by Przedsiębiorstwo Budowy Kopalń PeBeKa S.A. and is located at Rynarcice in Gmina Rudna, to the north of the town of Lubin. The shaft reaches a depth of 964.3 metres, making it the deepest in the ZG Lubin complex. A shaft tower — a basztowa (castle-type) steel-frame structure — was erected over the shaft at the time of construction, having originally been designed in connection with a planned production or personnel descent function.
This function was not realised, and from its early years the shaft served only as an intake ventilation shaft (szyb wdechowy), supplying fresh air to the underground workings; a small heating system for conditioning incoming air was installed at the shaft collar for use during winter months. For several decades the shaft passed up to 27,000 cubic metres of air per minute. As exploitation progressed northward from the main Lubin complex and the deposit's western zones neared exhaustion, the distances required for miners descending via shafts L-IV and L-V to travel underground to their working faces increased significantly.
Engineering studies, including a formal analysis published in CUPRUM in 2013, concluded that extending the function of L-VI to include personnel descent and materials transport would substantially improve operational efficiency and reduce unproductive travel time for the workforce. The study noted that the shaft's existing tower, though built for a broader function, had not been equipped with the necessary winding machinery for carrying personnel. Plans for L-VI's conversion were developed and a construction and installation contract was signed with PeBeKa in 2015.
The modernisation programme took four years and was described by KGHM management as the largest and most complex project ever undertaken at ZG Lubin. The scope of surface works included the demolition of deteriorated buildings, the modernisation of the shaft tower, the installation of a new primary cage winding installation and an emergency/inspection winding installation, and the construction of new administration and welfare buildings, a headframe building, materials stores and workshops, a vehicle bay with parking areas, and a water treatment station. Underground works included the removal of old pit-bottom equipment, the construction of a new pit-bottom complex with associated chambers, a personnel station with a waiting room, chambers for shaft, electrical and telecommunications departments, transformer station chambers, and an innovative fuel storage chamber with a system for lowering fuel tanks underground.
The primary winding installation is equipped with a double-deck cage with a 25-tonne payload capacity, capable of transporting up to 150 persons simultaneously and lowering large-gauge mining machines and containerised materials at speeds of up to 12 metres per second. An innovative container-based materials handling system was introduced, with specialised loading platforms, loading and unloading equipment, swing bridges, and pneumatic cushion systems to avoid the need for rail transport. On 8 October 2019, the L-VI complex was formally commissioned at a ceremony attended by the President of the Republic of Poland, Andrzej Duda, who on the same occasion presented Medals for Sacrifice and Courage to mine rescue workers who had distinguished themselves during an emergency at ZG Rudna in January 2019.
Following commissioning, up to 1,300 persons descend via L-VI daily. The shaft serves the northern extraction zone of ZG Lubin, cutting travel distances to active faces and increasing effective working time. The total cost of the investment was approximately 300 million złoty.
Szyb L-VI is intended to remain in service for the full remaining operational life of Zakłady Górnicze Lubin.