Active personnel and materials shaft of the Rydułtowy coal mine, deepened to 1,210 metres and serving the deep coal workings.
Leon IV is a deep hard coal shaft belonging to Kopalnia Rydułtowy, located in Rydułtowy in the Rybnik Coal Area of Upper Silesia. The shaft was designed from 1987 as a ventilation and transport shaft to access coal seams being exploited at progressively greater depths beneath the existing Leon complex. Sinking from the surface began in 1991 but was halted at 107 metres in 1993 following the formation of the Rybnicka Spółka Węglowa, and the initial excavation was flooded.
Sinking resumed in 1995 and by 1997 the shaft had reached 1,000 metres and been connected to the western cross-heading. After a further phase of deepening it reached 1,076 metres in 1998, at which point it functioned solely as a ventilation shaft until 2004. From 2005 a winding tower salvaged from the closed Kopalnia Czeczott was installed and the shaft was equipped for personnel transport, which commenced in mid-2009.
Further deepening to 1,210.7 metres began in 2013 and was completed by 2017, with the new 1,150-metre transport level opened at that time. The shaft has a diameter of 8.5 metres and continues in active service.
The planning history of Szyb Leon IV begins in 1987, when design work was initiated at Kopalnia Rydułtowy for a new shaft to access coal seams lying below the levels then being worked. The mine had been exploiting coal from the early nineteenth century as Kopalnia Charlotte, later becoming Kopalnia Rydułtowy after the Second World War, and by the late 1980s production was advancing to progressively deeper horizons. The original design specified a shaft depth of approximately 1,066 metres with provision for future deepening to 1,250 or even 1,300 metres.
Its primary function was to be a ventilation inlet shaft with the capacity to also transport personnel and materials, with the potential for the installation of extraction vessels at a later stage. The shaft diameter was set at 8.5 metres. Physical sinking from the surface commenced in 1991.
After reaching 107 metres, work was suspended following a corporate restructuring event: in 1993, with the formation of the Rybnicka Spółka Węglowa — which incorporated Kopalnia Rydułtowy — a decision was taken to abandon the investment entirely, and the partially sunk shaft was flooded. After approximately two years, however, the concept of sinking the shaft from the surface was revived. A contract for the first phase was placed and sinking resumed in 1995.
By 1997 the shaft had reached 1,000 metres and had been successfully connected to the western cross-heading, completed between seams 630/1-2 and 713/1-2. Immediately after this connection, the available equipment was used to deepen the shaft a further 76 metres to 1,076 metres and a junction into the workings at the 1,067-metre horizon was excavated. This completed the second phase of construction, and from 1998 until 2004 the shaft served solely as a ventilation shaft.
The problem of personnel transport and materials movement to the deep faces remained unresolved. In 2005, work on arming the shaft began, with the winding tower being a unit salvaged from the closed Kopalnia Czeczott. Rope guidance of the conveyances — an approach unusual in Polish hard coal mining at that time — was selected in preference to rigid guide rails.
By mid-2009 the first descent of personnel through Leon IV took place, cutting the travel time from the surface to the 1,000-metre level from 40 minutes to three minutes. In December 2009 materials transport commenced. By 2013 the mine's working faces were advancing to 1,200 metres depth and a further deepening of Leon IV was needed.
In March 2013 a contract was signed to deepen the shaft to 1,210 metres and construct the 1,150-metre level as the new operational horizon. Total expenditure on the shaft to the end of 2009 had reached 125 million złoty. The deepening was conducted under exceptionally demanding conditions, with ventilation and transport functions maintained throughout.
An artificial shaft floor was constructed to protect workers at the face, and novel techniques including the first use of retractable guidance systems on a shaft level in Polish hard coal mining were deployed. A retractable guidance system on level 960 metres eliminated the need to reduce winding speed at that level. By 2016 the targeted 1,200-metre depth had been approached, and the final target depth of 1,210.7 metres was achieved by approximately 2017.
The new 1,150-metre transport level was opened in late 2017, extending the mine's projected operating life to around 2040 and reducing personnel travel times to the deepest workings by 30 to 60 minutes per shift.