Active hard coal extraction shaft at Bytom, retaining its steel headframe, operated by Zakład Górniczy EKO-PLUS under concession on the former KWK Bytom workings.
Szyb Kopernik is the main extraction shaft of the former Kopalnia Węgla Kamiennego Bytom, situated in the Stroszek-Dąbrowa Miejska district of Bytom, Upper Silesia. The mine was founded in 1923 and completed in 1928 by the Henckel von Donnersmarck-Beuthen Estates Limited as Beuthengrube, a colliery sited on the German side of the post-1922 Silesian border to exploit coal seams that had passed to Poland with the Radzionkau mine. The main extraction shaft, originally named Glückauf-Schacht and carrying a 40-metre steel headframe, was renamed Kopernik after 1945 when the mine was nationalised.
Following the closure of KWK Bytom on 31 December 1974 and its merger with KWK Radzionków as KWK Powstańców Śląskich, the mine was progressively liquidated in the late 1990s. From 2008, Zakład Górniczy EKO-PLUS obtained concessions to resume extraction from the residual Bytom I deposits through Szyb Kopernik, which remains operationally active with a steel headframe still standing.
Kopalnia Węgla Kamiennego Bytom was established in response to the post-First World War division of Upper Silesia. The Council of Ambassadors' 1922 decision awarded the Radzionkau mine in Radzionków to Poland, cutting German access to its coal workings. The Henckel von Donnersmarck-Beuthen Estates Limited proceeded to construct a new colliery on the German side of the new border, on former Radzionkau concession land, utilising an existing ventilation shaft from that mine as a preparatory facility. Construction began in 1923, with formal completion and commissioning in 1928. Initial extraction was from a depth of 311 metres. The mine's electrical equipment was fully electrified from the outset. The principal extraction shaft, known as Glückauf-Schacht, carried a steel headframe 40 metres in height. The colliery achieved an annual output exceeding one million tonnes and employed approximately 2,300 workers by 1938. Following the policy decision by the German government in 1925 to halt coal imports from Poland, Beuthengrube's strategic importance as a domestic source increased.
On 1 January 1945 Soviet forces occupied the mine. In April 1945 it was transferred to Polish administration and renamed Kopalnia Węgla Kamiennego Bytom. The principal extraction shaft was renamed Kopernik at that time. The mine was placed under the Bytomskie Zjednoczenie Przemysłu Węglowego. From July 1945 a forced labour camp existed at the colliery, housing over 700 internees, prisoners, and prisoners of war by late November 1945; the camp was probably liquidated in 1947. Post-war investment included new skip equipment, backfill systems, an underground fire-suppression pipeline, a prefabricated elements plant, two auxiliary shaft sinkings, and expansion of the coal preparation plant. From 1 January 1975 Kopalnia Bytom merged with Kopalnia Radzionków to form Kopalnia Węgla Kamiennego Powstańców Śląskich.
Mining activity under KWK Powstańców Śląskich caused the ground surface over the mining concession to subside by up to 30 metres in places. A closed body of water known as Brandka formed in the resulting subsidence basin and persists to the present day. On 31 December 1996 the Ruch II section, the former KWK Radzionków, ceased extraction. KWK Powstańców Śląskich Bytom I was placed in liquidation in 1999. Extraction concluded and formal liquidation by Bytomska Spółka Restrukturyzacji Kopalń began in 2001. A central drainage facility continued to operate from the Szyb Kopernik area to protect surrounding mines from water ingress.
In 2008 Zakład Górniczy EKO-PLUS obtained its first extraction concession for the Bytom I deposit using the remaining active workings left by the liquidated colliery. From 2010 the company extracted coal continuously through Szyb Kopernik and a ventilation and backfill shaft in Radzionków. The deposit Bytom I-1 was being worked at depths from 220 to 650 metres. In 2015 EKO-PLUS extended its activity by establishing the Bytom VII mining area and obtaining a concession running to 2043. Annual output was approximately 150,000 to 180,000 tonnes, with estimated remaining operationally accessible reserves of about 3,957,000 tonnes at that time. The company operated through the room-and-pillar method. As of 2024 the company was formally listed as being in restructuring proceedings.