Deepest coal mine shaft in Poland and Europe, sunk to 1,320 metres at KWK Budryk in Ornontowice, serving the coking coal mine's principal underground workings.
Szyb VI is the sixth and deepest shaft of Kopalnia Węgla Kamiennego Budryk, located at Chudów within the administrative area of Ornontowice in the Mikołów district of Upper Silesia. KWK Budryk is the youngest hard coal mine in Poland; its construction was authorised by a Council of Ministers resolution of 15 September 1978 and the state enterprise was formally constituted on 14 November 1978 under the name Kopalnia Węgla Kamiennego Budryk, honouring Professor Witold Budryk, the first Polish doctorate holder in mining. Shaft I began sinking in October 1979, and the mine's construction occupied the entirety of the 1980s.
Coal production commenced in March 1994 following a ministerial extraction licence issued on 21 March 1994. Szyb VI, positioned at the geographical centre of the deposit, serves as the principal access and materials transport shaft for the deepest workings. It was deepened between 2011 and 2015 from the 1,050 m level to a final depth of 1,320 metres, making it the deepest coal mine shaft in Poland and in Europe.
The mine is owned by Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa S.A. since January 2008.
The authorisation for building Kopalnia Węgla Kamiennego Budryk was established by a Council of Ministers resolution dated 15 September 1978, under the provisional name Kopalnia Węgla Kamiennego Ornontowice. The state enterprise was constituted by ministerial order on 14 November 1978 under the name KWK Budryk, honouring Professor Witold Budryk, the first person in Poland to receive a doctorate in mining engineering and a former rector of the AGH University of Science and Technology in Kraków. Construction of the mine began in 1979.
Shaft I was sunk from October 1979. Construction of the mine complex, encompassing multiple shafts, surface infrastructure, and underground development roadways, occupied the entire decade of the 1980s. The coal-bearing strata underlying the Ornontowice-Gierałtowice area and extending under Knurów, Czerwionka-Leszczyny, and Mikołów are positioned in the centre of the Upper Silesian coalfield and are notable for their high-quality coking coal content.
On 21 March 1994 the mine received a ministerial extraction licence and production began that same year. The mine also began concurrent extraction of methane as a co-mined mineral. By 2007 daily output had reached 14,000 tonnes, with economically recoverable reserves estimated at approximately 235 million tonnes.
At the end of 2011 the mine employed 2,591 people. The mine possesses five shafts, of which one is the principal extraction shaft. Szyb VI, situated in Chudów and known also by the designation Szyb VI Chudów, functions as the principal access, materials, and personnel transport shaft for the mine's deepest working levels.
Its original depth served the 900 m level. In December 2007 a decision was taken by the Minister of Economy to transfer KWK Budryk to Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa S.A. This triggered a prolonged underground strike beginning 17 December 2007: miners, concerned about pay disparities relative to other JSW mines, initially staged rotational and then occupational strikes. By late January 2008 approximately 130 miners remained underground, with 30 conducting a hunger strike.
The strike ended on 31 January 2008 following an agreement with the JSW management board. The transfer was recorded in the National Court Register in January 2008. Under JSW ownership, investment in deepening Szyb VI was initiated.
A contract for the deepening was signed in 2009 and preparatory works followed. Deepening commenced in July 2011 from the existing level 1,050 m, carried out during the normal operational life of the shaft. Initial progress was to plan, but when the shaft encountered the Chudów fault zone between depths of 1,170 m and 1,233 m, a different construction method was required, extending the programme by approximately six months.
The deepening was completed in late June 2015, reaching a final depth of 1,320 m, an increase of 286 metres. This made Szyb VI the deepest coal mine shaft in Poland and in Europe. The target deposit accessible from the new level 1,290 m contained an estimated 122.5 million tonnes of high-quality coking coal.
The first tonne of coal from the new level was extracted in mid-2017. A modernisation of the winding installation in the northern compartment of Szyb VI was carried out between February 2019 and November 2021, extending the shaft lift from level 900 down to level 1,290 and installing two four-deck cages each capable of transporting 80 workers. The winding machinery was comprehensively overhauled, including replacement of the power and control systems, main shaft and bearings, and drive wheel.
Modern compact-construction hoisting ropes and flat steel-rubber equalising ropes were employed in view of the exceptional shaft depth. The shaft came back into full operation on 4 December 2021, providing full cage access to all levels: 500, 900, 1,050, and 1,290 m. Szyb VI remains the principal operational shaft of KWK Budryk and is situated at the geographical centre of the mine's coal deposit.
Future plans include deepening to level 1,050 m via a second transport compartment and possible further development of winding capacity in the shaft's southern compartment.