KWK Siemianowice — szyb Bańgów Siemianowice Śląskie · Województwo śląskie · Poland

Note: The supplied town field for this site reads Bytom, but research confirms Szyb Bańgów is located in the Bańgów district of Siemianowice Śląskie, associated with the former Kopalnia Węgla Kamiennego Siemianowice. The coordinates supplied (50.3264685, 19.0311984) are consistent with the Bańgów district of Siemianowice Śląskie.

The Kopalnia Węgla Kamiennego Siemianowice had its origins in 1855 with the establishment of the Vereinigte Siemianowitzer Steinkohlengruben by Karol Hugon Henckel von Donnersmarck, which combined several earlier mining fields. By 1908 this had been divided into two separate undertakings: Laurahütte and Richter. The Richter section comprised three sister shafts — Richter, Richter II, and Richter III — drilled from 1879 onwards for the Laurahütte mine, named after a senior mining official Richter. A nineteenth-century crosscut connected the Richter shafts with the draining shaft Aschenborn, and in 1886 a further crosscut linked this system with the Ficinus section of the Laurahütte mine. By 1889 the Richter shafts had been deepened and a new production level established at 206 metres. Szyb Richter III was connected at the 206-metre level with a nineteenth-century main crosscut running to Szyb Bańgów in the Bańgów district. In 1897 the surviving steel headframe above Szyb Richter III (known today as Szyb Siemianowice III) was erected, measuring over 30 metres in height. Szyb Bańgów originated as part of the Richter mine field and the current surface complex, including the shaft buildings, dates from 1924. The shaft was sunk to a depth of 321 metres and was originally two-compartment to the 206-metre level, serving simultaneously as an intake and exhaust ventilation shaft; a brick partition wall dividing the two airflows survives in the shaft to this day, with original German directional signs on the 206-metre level. In 1925 the two Richter and Laurahütte undertakings were merged into a single mine under the name Huta Laura i Richter. In 1933 the Laurahütte section was suspended and its field merged with the Richter side; in 1937 the combined mine was renamed Siemianowice. During the German occupation of the Second World War the mine belonged to the Hermann Göring concern, which briefly separated and reactivated the Laurahütte section before the two were reunited under the name Siemianowice in 1945. Following post-war nationalisation the mine entered the Rudzka Spółka Węglowa. Two fatal disasters occurred: on 9 June 1956 a gas explosion killed five miners, and on 22 May 1985 a rock-burst killed six. Liquidation of KWK Siemianowice began in 1993 under the name KWK Siemianowice — ZG Rozalia. By 2010 the only active shafts of the former mine were Szyb Bańgów and Szyb Siemianowice III. Following the mine's final closure, the shaft passed to the Spółka Restrukturyzacji Kopalń and was incorporated into the Centralny Zakład Odwadniania Kopalń. Szyb Bańgów became the principal element of the Pompownia Stacjonarna Siemianowice: the shaft is connected hydrogeologically with a second pumping station in the Chorzów area and protects the Bytom basin from flooding. Five pump assemblies at the 321-metre level pump an average of 11.3 cubic metres of water per minute; the shaft serves as the intake ventilation for the pumping station. The winding engine, in continuous service since 1924 according to the operating crew, transports personnel and materials, with a maximum of 20 cycles per day. In 2023 the approximately 35-metre steel single-prop headframe was refurbished: it was cleaned, sandblasted, treated for corrosion, and repainted, with additional illumination added. Renovation of the winding-engine house and workshops was planned at the same time. The shaft complex is listed in the gminne ewidencje zabytków (municipal heritage inventory) of Siemianowice Śląskie.