Surviving headframe of the former Łęczyca I iron ore shaft, a listed heritage structure and the sole remaining surface monument of the closed Łęczyckie Zakłady Górnicze.
Łęczyca I is the surviving headframe of a shaft belonging to the former Łęczyckie Zakłady Górnicze (ŁZG), a post-war iron ore mining enterprise established in central Poland. The shaft was sunk as part of the development of the Łęczyca iron ore basin under a decision of the Polish government in 1955. Kopalnia Łęczyca-1 was commissioned in April 1962, extracting sideritic iron ore from Middle Jurassic deposits lying between 30 and 300 metres depth.
During the early and mid-1960s the mine achieved record gallery-driving performances and participated in national mining competitions. Underground production at ŁZG came to an end by 1992. The headframe of szyb Łęczyca I, standing at the approach road to the town from the direction of Łódź, at Ozorkowskie Przedmieście 4, was entered into the heritage register on 11 June 1994 under number 647.
It is the only surviving surface structure of the former iron ore workings and has become a recognised landmark of Łęczyca. The shaft site is currently enclosed within a motor vehicle dealership. Associated spoil heaps to the west and near the town lake provide mineralogical interest.
The Łęczyca iron ore basin was identified as a viable resource in the early post-war period. On 28 May 1955 the Presidium of the Polish Government adopted Resolution 373 establishing the location and construction of an iron ore mining district in Łęczyca County, and on 13 June 1955 the Minister of Metallurgy, by Order 130, established Łęczyckie Zakłady Górnicze w budowie as the investing body, headquartered in Łęczyca. Leon Głowicki was appointed as the first director. Shaft-sinking was initially carried out by Przedsiębiorstwo Budowy Kopalń Rud Żelaza in Częstochowa, and continued by Przedsiębiorstwo Budowy Kopalń in Bytom.
The complex initially developed as two separate collieries. Work on the shafts of what would become Kopalnia Łęczyca-2 began first, with the shaft at Borki designated as shaft number 3 of that future mine. Experimental production at Łęczyca-2 commenced in 1956. In April 1962 Kopalnia Łęczyca-1 was commissioned at the southern and eastern boundaries of the town. Experienced miners were transferred from recently closed iron ore mines at Kowary and from the Staropolski district to bring the new mine into immediate production. The iron ore was of the sideritic type, occurring in three seams of Middle Jurassic age at depths from 30 to 300 metres. Ore types included sphaerosiderites, clay siderites, shell siderites, sandy siderites, and sideritic mudstones.
The 1960s were the most productive period for ŁZG. On 14 July 1964 the millionth tonne of ore was raised. In August 1964 a team led by Antoni Stawiany at Kopalnia Łęczyca-1 drove 332 metres of gallery in a single month, a national record; this was surpassed in November when the same team achieved 635 metres. The two collieries were operated on a longwall system, initially in timber support and from 1962 in steel arched ŁP4 frames. At its peak in 1979 ŁZG employed 1,500 workers.
From the late 1960s the economic viability of the low-grade ore was questioned nationally. ŁZG developed a programme of measures to reach profitability, including concentrating extraction on the higher-grade A seam, increasing sales of clay shale to the cement industry, and merging the two collieries. The firm changed its registered name from Łęczyckie Zakłady Górnicze w budowie to Łęczyckie Zakłady Górnicze w Łęczycy in 1962, reflecting the transition from construction to production.
Underground mining operations at ŁZG ceased by 1992. The enterprise continued in a reduced form, selling stockpiled clay shale to the cement industry and manufacturing machinery, with a remaining workforce of around 500. The headframe of szyb Łęczyca I was formally entered into the heritage register on 11 June 1994 under register number 647. It stands at the Łódź approach road at Ozorkowskie Przedmieście 4 and is the only surviving surface structure of the former iron ore complex. The shaft site currently lies within a Mercedes-Benz dealership. Spoil heaps associated with the former workings, located between the town lake and the skatepark and to the west of the headframe, survive as informal geological interest sites visited by mineralogists and geology students, yielding sphaerosiderites, calcite veins, and a range of Jurassic marine fossils including ammonites, belemnites, and bivalves.