Active hard coal mine operating as Ruch Ziemowit of KWK Piast-Ziemowit, one of the largest collieries in Poland, in Lędziny.
KWK Ziemowit is a hard coal mine in Lędziny in the Górnośląskie Zagłębie Węglowe, now operating as Ruch Ziemowit of the combined KWK Piast-Ziemowit, a mine of Polska Grupa Górnicza S.A. The site has a mining history reaching back to 1842, when Kopalnia „Radość Henryka" was established by the prince of Pszczyna estate. The Ziemowit shaft complex itself was initiated during the Second World War: sinking of the ventilation shaft began on 29 July 1940 and of the main shaft on 2 October 1942. Coal extraction commenced on 3 December 1952.
In 1972 the mine was merged with the adjacent Kopalnia „Piast", creating at the time one of the largest collieries in Europe, with daily output reaching 16,000 tonnes. By 1979 Ziemowit was ranked the largest hard coal mine in the world, operating 13 mechanised longwall faces, 10 shafts, and three independent production sections. Peak annual output of 7,000,000 tonnes was achieved in 1986.
On 1 July 2016 KWK Ziemowit was formally merged with KWK Piast to form KWK Piast-Ziemowit, within which it continues to operate as an active production section.
Coal extraction on the Lędziny land has its recorded beginnings in the nineteenth century, though surface mining of coal in the Jaroszowice forests was documented as early as 1656. The first significant underground operation was established in 1842 when the estate manager of the Książę Pszczyński (Prince of Pszczyna), Brucker, discovered a coal seam approximately three metres thick between the village of Lędziny and the Hołdunów colony. Mining began the following year, 1843, under the name „Radość Henryka" (Heinrichsfreude in German), named in honour of the then-ruling prince Jan Henryk Hochberg. Exploitation was interrupted in 1844–1845 due to significant water ingress. The mine reopened in 1893 under the new name Matylda, with first production on 20 November 1893. By 1895 it employed 61 workers, half underground. In 1924 it was renamed Piast, and in 1926 Szyby Piast. During the Second World War it operated under the German name Piastschachte. After liberation in 1945 the name reverted to Piast, and from 1949 to Piast-Ziemowit following the temporary attachment of shafts from the new Ziemowit colliery under construction.
Work on building the Ziemowit colliery — originally a project of the Fürstlich Plessische Bergwerks A.G. — was initiated during the Second World War. Sinking of the ventilation shaft began on 29 July 1940 and of the main shaft on 2 October 1942. The mining concession area bordered the Piastowski fault and extended southward. Following nationalisation in 1945 the project continued under Polish state direction. On 3 December 1952, the day before the feast of St Barbara (the miners' patron), KWK Ziemowit began coal extraction.
During the 1950s and 1960s the mine expanded steadily. A project to build a second colliery at Lędziny had first been drawn up as early as 4 November 1911, but was abandoned due to the approaching First World War; subsequent resumption of surveys after the war eventually fed into the Ziemowit planning process. The 50-millionth tonne of coal was extracted in June 1974. That same year shaft deepening to Level III at 650 metres commenced. In 1972 average daily output stood at 16,449 tonnes.
On 1 July 1972 KWK Piast in Lędziny (the former Radość Henryka/Matylda/Piast lineage) was merged with KWK Ziemowit to form a single mining enterprise. The combined area covered 49 square kilometres and employed 7,500 workers, with output reaching 15,000 tonnes per day — one of the largest collieries in Europe at the time. In 1975 the mine received the Order Sztandaru Pracy I klasy from the State Council. Shaft nr 3, with 30-tonne skips in the northern section, was commissioned in 1975 to raise coal from Level II. The first diesel locomotive (Stephanoise type) was introduced in section G7 on seam 207 in 1975.
From 1978 the mine operated exclusively using the transverse longwall system with roof caving. In 1978 daily output exceeded 20,000 tonnes, and from the beginning of production the cumulative output had by then reached 75 million tonnes. By 1979 Ziemowit had been ranked the largest hard coal mine in the world, operating 13 fully mechanised longwall faces, 9 heading machines, 10 shafts, and three independent production sections. Shaft deepening to Level III (650 metres) combined with the opening of seam 209 on that level in 1978 allowed daily output to reach 27,000 tonnes by 1984. Annual output peaked at over 7,000,000 tonnes in 1986, making Ziemowit the highest-output colliery in Poland that year.
The Solidarity period saw a strike at Ziemowit from 2 to 4 September 1980, ending with the Jastrzębskie agreements. During the subsequent period of martial law a sit-in underground strike involving over 2,000 workers took place on 15 December 1981. From 1 February 2003 the mine entered Kompania Węglowa S.A. In 2002 the Hołdunów section was liquidated together with its underground workings, and one of two chimneys built in 1948 was demolished. Production output in 2002 was 4,195,500 tonnes with 5,063 employees. By 2014 employment stood at 4,228 workers.
On 1 May 2016 KWK Ziemowit entered Polska Grupa Górnicza sp. z o.o. On 1 July 2016 it was formally merged with KWK Piast to form the combined KWK Piast-Ziemowit. The Ziemowit section continues in active production as Ruch Ziemowit. As of 2022 the mining concession held industrial reserves of 255.7 million tonnes at depths documented to 1,250 metres, with the concession valid to 31 August 2044. Current operations exploit seams in the Łaziskie and Orzskie series at thicknesses of 1.9 to 5.3 metres on Levels II (470 metres) and III (650 metres). Annual output for Ruch Ziemowit is estimated at approximately 4,500,000 tonnes.