Currently, the final operating plan procedure for the termination of the mining supervision for the former Proper II shaft (Figure 1) of the former Prosper-Haniel mine in Bottrop/Germany is underway. Within the procedure, an “orienting hazard assessment” was carried out. The expert recommends prohibiting groundwater extraction there due to the sometimes significant groundwater contamination in some areas. The city of Bottrop has therefore banned both the use and extraction of groundwater in these areas.
The groundwater in the downstream of the Prosper-Haniel mine was already sampled during the phase-out of operations. “We continued to keep an eye on the groundwater as part of the final operating plan procedure. For this purpose, there were measuring points both by us and by the city of Bottrop at Knappenstraße and in the adjacent settlement. Until autumn, the values measured there were only slightly elevated,” says Michael Otto of RAG Montan Immobilien GmbH in Essen, who is responsible for the final operating plan.
As part of the process, the number of groundwater measuring points on the site itself and in the settlement will be expanded step by step. In October, the values measured there were much higher. Otto: “We reported this to the supervisory authority and the city of Bottrop, which has now ordered this precautionary measure.” Essentially, the elevated values are coke ice-specific parameters.
The direction of flow of the groundwater is from east to west. Therefore, several causative factors are possible. Next to the colliery site, there was an old coking plant with various ancillary extraction facilities, such as a petrol factory.
Within the framework of the ongoing final operating plan procedure, solutions for a permanent safeguarding of the contaminated sites must now be developed and implemented so that a risk to the population can be excluded.
Groundwater remediation is already being carried out at several sites in the Ruhr area. Mostly at former coking plant sites that were destroyed in the Second World War. This is one of the eternal tasks in post-mining. (RAG/Si.)
The tunnel boring machine (TBM) eats its way about 340 m through the ground 10 m below the Datteln-Hamm Canal (Figure 1). Here, in 2025, mine water is to flow into the Lippe in a pipe. This is because Haus Aden is one of the central mine water sites of RAG Aktiengesellschaft in Essen. At the same time, a new residential area is being built here – directly on the water.
Due to the age of the former mine water pipeline and the future use of the Haus Aden water intake site as one of the remaining central uplift points in the Ruhr area, the mine water pipeline of the former Haus Aden colliery is being renewed as far as the Lippe. The mine water extraction rate is around 11.9 M m3/a. In order to use synergies, the existing flood water discharge pipe of the Oberaden pumping station will also be renewed in the course of this construction measure to ensure precipitation drainage.
The project will be implemented in two construction stages. The first construction phase comprises the renewal of the mine water drainage and the flood water discharge pipe between the former Haus Aden shaft site and Kleine Heide road north of the Datteln-Hamm canal. For this purpose, the canal will be crossed under with two media channels in which the pipelines will be routed. The second construction stage – extension to the Lippe – will take place afterwards.
With the current start of the tunnelling work, the first of the two media channels with an internal diameter of 3.20 m will be excavated. The length of the excavation is about 340 m and will be carried out from south to north. The excavation of the second media channel with a diameter of 2.80 m will start afterwards, also from south to north at the same depth. A period of about three months is planned for the tunnelling work for each media duct. The start of the tunnelling measure, originally planned for spring/summer 2022, was delayed due to the clarification of legal issues that had to be accompanied by an expert opinion, as well as delivery problems with essential components. The completion of the entire project is scheduled for 2025.
The TBM from Herrenknecht has an installed capacity of 850 KW, is 7 m long and has a diameter of 4 m. The TBM can move up to 1.5 m per day. It can cut up to 10 m through the ground every day.
A Herrenknecht tunnel boring machine is used to excavate two channels for the renewal of the mine water drainage system and the flood water discharge pipe for the Haus Aden dewatering site. Photo/Photo: RAG
Barbara – this will be the name of the tunnel boring machine (TBM) in future, which will drive the mine water channel from the outlet to the central shaft (Figure 1). The woman who gave the TBM its name is the patron saint of all miners. Saint Barbara’s Day is therefore exactly the right temporal setting for the christening of this huge machine.
During a solemn ceremony on 7th December 2022, the first tunnel boring machine for the construction of the mine water channel of the former Ibbenbüren mine of RAG Aktiengesellschaft, Essen/Germany, was symbolically baptised by Parish Priest Andreas Finke and Pastor Martin Weber at the outlet of the mine water channel. It is one of two TBMs that will drive the mine water canal over a length of 7.4 km, through which the mine water of the Ibbenbüren mine will in future be fed to the new mine water treatment plant currently under construction in Gravenhorst.
The godmother of the first TBM of the west drive is Christine Wenzel, an internationally successful sports shooter from Ibbenbüren. Miriam März, head of RAG’s Personnel and Development Division (V-PE), will be the godmother for the west section of the mine water tunnel, which will be named “Miriam”.
With this act of blessing and symbolic baptism of the TBM and the tunnel, God’s assistance and blessing is requested for the safety and health of the tunnel builders as well as for the success of the project, which is being implemented to protect the people and nature in the former coal region.
A second TBM will be lowered into the 75-m-deep central shaft in the spring of this year and will dig its way through the ground from there in an easterly direction. In 2025, after completion, all the mine water will flow through the canal into the Gravenhorst treatment plant. (RAG/Si.)
At the future central Lohberg dewatering site of RAG Aktiengesellschaft, Essen/Germany, in Dinslaken, both the rehabilitation of the shaft frame and the development of the site area are showing visible progress (Figure 1).
In order to strengthen the double trestle, which is a listed building, reinforcement measures in the steel skeleton are necessary for structural reasons. In order to be able to carry out this work and the subsequent corrosion protection painting at dizzy heights, the scaffold, which is visible from afar and currently encloses almost the entire 74 m high headframe, was erected. The associated rope sheaves were removed beforehand and will be reinstalled in their original position once they have been refurbished. The work will continue into next year.
The area, which is under mine supervision, is currently being enclosed with a fence system which, with its clinkered posts and masonry elements and black fence lattices, blends harmoniously into the surrounding industrial landscape. “The Lohberg site will play a central role in RAG’s water retention concept in the future, as this is where the mine water from the entire Emscher syncline will be lifted using submersible pumps and discharged into the Rhine in a few years’ time. Planning for this will start next year,” explains Jörg Küsters, site manager for Lohberg. “Many coordination loops, especially with the Office for the Protection of Historical Monuments and the City of Dinslaken, were and are still necessary to meet all requirements,” adds project manager Harald Haase. (RAG/Si.)
Until now, the Velsen Adventure Mine Association) in the Saarland has leased the heritage site, formerly a training mine. In the last week, the Association, the RAG Aktien-gesellschaft,Essen/Germany, and the Saarland Ministry of Education and Culture have all signed the contracts (Figure 1).
The solution found is all thanks to a united commitment: As the new owner, the Association will bear any costs incurred for closure and filling. The RAG will therefore pay approximately 1.5 M € in closure costs, as specified in the decommissioning plan, to the Association, which will then transfer the money to the Saarland Ministry of Finance. The state has assured the Association that it will cover the costs in the event of an unavoidable closure and therefore also assumes the risk of increased costs in the future.
Stefan Hager, regional representative for the RAG, thanked all those involved for their extraordinary commitment and perseverance. “We are pleased to have found a viable and sustainable solution for everyone.” The former training tunnel will still be used, now as an Adventure Mine. “Velsen shows once more that it needs cooperation from everyone if the structural transformation is to be a success. With this in mind, we also hope to find solutions for the historical mining monuments. We wish the Velsen Adventure Mine Association many visitors, committed members and, in particular, all the “miner’s luck” in the future.” Volker Etgen, first Chairman of the Association, confirmed: “The transfer of ownership gives us planning security and the fate of this training mine, unique to Germany, will soon be in our hands.”
“Velsen offers more than just a glance at the past, it is indeed a place for future generations”, said the Saarland Minister of Culture Christine Streichert-Clivot while she signed the contracts. “We need networked services between the different mining and industrial heritage locations, and more professionalisation to support the extraordinary voluntary work in this sector. In the new budget, we must therefore also discuss increased funding for industrial heritage.”
Until 2011, the RAG was still teaching miners in the training mine. Since mining ended in the Saarland, the Association has used the training tunnel as a visitor mine. Across an 800 m stretch on three different levels, visitors can see powered shields in several longwalls, conveyors, transportation rails and drilling equipment. Particularly noteworthy: All machines and technologies used in active mining operations are available and ready for use.
A special moment for Minister Christine Streichert-Clivot. As the daughter of a miner, she feels personally drawn to the cultural legacy of the mining era and has in recent years worked with the volunteers of the Association and the RAG to find the chosen solution: “School classes are currently jumping at the chance to visit the former training tunnels in Velsen. Before the pandemic, the operators were swamped with bookings. Velsen offers more than just a glance at the past, it is indeed a place for future generations. We need networked services between the different mining and industrial heritage locations, and more professionalisation to support the extraordinary voluntary work in this sector. In the new budget, we must therefore also discuss increased funding for industrial heritage.” (RAG/Si.)
On 7th December 2021, Peter Schrimpf, Chairman of the Board of Executives of RAG Aktiengesellschaft, Essen/Germany, and Chairman of the Board of Stiftung Zollverein, Essen, welcomed Ina Scharrenbach, Minister for Home, Community, Construction and Equality of North Rhine-Westphalia. Together, they travelled into the depths: 1,000 m below the surface of the earth, they visited the mine water management pumping systems in the “Zollverein XII” shaft in Essen (Figure 1).
“Zollverein is a symbol of our past and our future. It was one of the most high-performance mining complexes in the world and is a World Heritage Site today, while it remains an active mining site as well as housing the RAG headquarters,” says Schrimpf. “After 20 years, the Zollverein Foundation is facing some big tasks. Maintaining this unique UNESCO World Heritage Site is a challenge. That’s why the Zollverein Foundation relies on a broad support base,” says Schrimpf, who, as successor to Bernd Tönjes, is also Chairman on the Zollverein Foundation Board.
“The Zollverein mine shows how structural changes can be successful: Since the last shift ended in December 1986, Zollverein has turned into a place for art, culture and creative businesses. The Doppelbock winding tower is a widely recognisable monument as the “Eiffel Tower of the Ruhr valley”. With its fully preserved mining systems and coking plant, Zollverein has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001 – a place worth engaging with and experiencing. A strong piece of home. A strong piece of North Rhine-Westphalia, which it is our job to preserve,” says Minister Scharrenbach after visiting the shafts.
On their trip to Zollverein, the Minister and Schrimpf were accompanied by Bärbel Bergerhoff-Wodopia, member of the RAG-Stiftung Board of Executives, Essen, and Prof. Hans Peter Noll, Executive Chairman of the Stiftung Zollverein. “We also really care about this place,” says Bergerhoff-Wodopia, “that’s why we are also supporting multiple projects at Zollverein. And we have chose it as the site of the RAG-Stiftung headquarters. This proves that we believe in the future of this mining site so steeped in tradition.” (RAG/Si.)
Some three years after the ceremony to mark the end of the German coal mining industry, leading representatives of RAG-Stiftung and RAG Aktiengesellschaft, Essen/Germany, joined Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at a historic mining site.
Together with the head of state and other representatives from the worlds of politics, business and culture, the chair of the RAG-Stiftung board of management Bernd Tönjes, member of the board of management Bärbel Bergerhoff-Wodopia and the chair of the RAG board of management Peter Schrimpf visited the “We’re from here. Turkish-German Life in 1990” exhibition. Photographer Ergun Çağatay’s retrospective on the Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex is funded by the Federal Foreign Office and RAG-Stiftung.
Steinmeier visited the exhibition on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the signing of the German-Turkish Recruitment Agreement (Figure 1). “We should no longer be talking about how we have people with a migration background here, but instead about how, over the years, we’ve become a country with a migration background,” Steinmeier emphasised after the tour. Without these people, we could not account for some of the prosperity in our country.
While the coal mining industry was active, RAG itself made integration history. A host of different nationalities worked in the mines and factories. Employees originated from, e. g., Italy, Spain, Poland, Greece, Hungary and Turkey.
Integration was part of everyday life in the local mining industry – not least because of the district working group for cultural support for miners at that time (Revierarbeitsgemeinschaft für kulturelle Bergmannsbetreuung – REVAG). The REVAG, founded in 1948 as a specialist unit for cultural support for miners, did pioneering work in that field. It led guest workers out of linguistic and cultural isolation, created trust between immigrants and locals and opened up opportunities for immigrants to participate equally in social, political and civic life. (RAG)
On 25th August 2021, Michael Kalthoff, Member of the Board at RAG Aktiengesell-schaft, Essen/Germany, and Prof. Hans-Heinrich Witte, President of the Federal Shipping and Waterways Administration (WSV), Bonn/Germany, signed in Essen an agreement on final subsidence damage control for the Rhine bed in the Duisburg and Wesel region (Figure 1).
This agreement between the two parties, RAG and WSV, marks a successful end to years of effective and focused cooperation on the Rhine. In particular, as a result of the decades of coal mining, the Rhine bed between Duisburg and Wesel would frequently sink and need to be regularly raised.
Prof. Witte: “The conclusion we have reached today enables us to purposefully guide the Rhine into the future. We are drawing on our extensive experience and expertise in waterways engineering in the agreed subsidence damage control measures, as the Rhine is crucial to our future too.”
Kalthoff: “After a series of constructive negotiations, we are delighted to have reached a final agreement with the WSV. We have always cooperated in good faith in the past. Our final cost contribution will enable the Rhine bed to be stabilised in the long term and finally conclude the subsidence damage control work.”
Since mining activities have come to an end, the Rhine bed will be stabilised for the long term and final subsidence damage control work completed. This subsidence damage control work was planned by the WSV and is based on the expert reports compiled by the Federal Institute for Waterways Engineering and Research and the Federal Institute of Hydrology.
RAG agrees that these plans are a technically sensible conclusion to previous measures taken and is participating in the work with a final one-off contribution of approximately 15 M €. (RAG/Si)
For almost seven decades long RAG Verkauf GmbH, Herne/Germany, made a significant contribution towards energy security in Germany (Figure 1). A success story whose last chapter comes to an end at the turn of the year. On 31st December 2020 – a good two years after the closure of the last two RAG mines – the former marketer of domestic coal and at one time Germany’s largest coal importer ceases its activities – but not without paving the way for the future for the staff, as well as individual business and product areas.
“RAG Verkauf has always played a decisive role for the RAG Group”, says Michael Kalthoff, RAG Chief Financial Officer and Chairman of the Advisory Board of RAG Verkauf. Thanks to detailed market knowledge and very good customer contacts, the sales specialists always managed to reliably sell the extraction of the local mines, even in difficult times. An extraordinary achievement, which was also necessary in order to make possible the entire phase-out process of the German coal mining sector in a socially acceptable manner. Because the necessary public funding was not available for the extracted, but for the sold tonnes of coal. According to Kalthoff, the efforts of all staff of RAG Verkauf therefore deserve the special appreciation and recognition of the Group’s entire workforce.
Despite these successes and a successful restructuring and development process, it was still unavoidable to cease the business operations of RAG Verkauf at the end of the year. Because without the domestic coal mining sector, RAG is simply no longer the so-called “Best Owner” in the post-mining era. Kalthoff is very pleased that it managed to close the company without any upheavals in a joint effort with the social partner.
RAG Verkauf employed more than 200 staff at its peak; in November 2020 this figure was still 16. The funds for the socially acceptable reduction of staff essentially covered transferring people from one job to another through the sale of entire business units including job guarantee for the RAG Verkauf staff, as well as semi-retirement models. “My heartfelt thanks to all involved for the successful realisation”, says Kalthoff. “And in particular to our social partner, who was always by our side during the entire time.”
The Steelworks Agreement concluded in 1968 and extended in 1985 and the Century Contract concluded in 1977 with its supplementary agreements between the mining and electricity industry were the basis for the supplies of German coal until into the 1990s (Figure 2).
Fig. 2. Full supply chains: RAG Verkauf used ships, trains or lorries for the goods transport. // Bild 2. Vollständige Lieferketten: RAG Verkauf nutzte Schiff, Bahn oder Lkw für den Gütertransport. Photo/Foto: RAG
“Since 1996 the sale of German coal has been in competition with the global market price. We are proud that RAG Verkauf sold over 0.6 bn t of coal and coke since then”, says Manfred Müller, Chairman of the Managing Board. “Over all these years the objectives of RAG Verkauf were able to be achieved thanks to the high identification and motivation of our staff.”
Since the company’s foundation in 1953, at that time it was called Präsident Ruhrkohlen Verkaufsgesellschaft mbH, the company has pursued a major core business: the marketing of German coal. Supplies of fine coal, lump coal and low-grade coal to the power industry represented the largest business area. Apart from large energy supply companies, other customers included municipal utilities and municipal providers. Through wholesale channels in the heating market sized anthracite also went to small consumers such as nurseries and garden centres who do not convert it into electricity or also as domestic fuel to public buildings and private households.
The large customers of the iron and steel producing industry used coking coal for their coking plants, as well as coke and pulverised coal injection for direct use in their furnaces. RAG Verkauf was also responsible for the sale of foundry coke, crushed coke and coke breeze. There was also products on the “white side” of the coking plants, mainly gas and coal derivatives such as tar and ammonia, which are used in the chemical industry as a raw material for numerous products – from toothpaste to plastics through to fertilisers.
Other business activities were added over the years, such as the marketing of tailings, which arose with the coal production, and the material flow management for the resource-friendly treatment and recycling of various materials. This also includes the cost-optimised and on-time secure backfilling of the RAG shafts no longer in use, which is a basic prerequisite for the release of the mine areas from the mining authority and thus also for the establishment of companies and jobs.
Since the middle of the 1990s, RAG Verkauf has also marketed international coal in addition to German coal and in 1998 became Germany’s biggest coal importer. The company purchased the import coking coal required for the Prosper coke plant directly from producers in Australia, the USA and Canada. The sale of the coke plant to ArcelorMittal Bremen in 2011, in which RAG Verkauf played a role in the negotiations, did not change anything in this regard.
The business also changed with the end of the German coal mining sector. The direct marketing of coal and coke is completed. In order to give the “International coal and coke trade” business unit prospects for the future, RAG Verkauf sold it in August 2018 to Xcoal Energy & Resources Germany GmbH with its registered office in Essen. By the end of 2020, RAG Verkauf secured the commercial winding-up of German coal production and is further developing the material flow management business field, including the shaft backfilling. From 2021 this business unit will be continued under the umbrella of RAG Montan Immobilien GmbH. (RAG/Si)
On 30th September 2020, RAG Aktiengesellschaft, Essen/Germany, submitted the planning notification for the drainage and discharge of mine water in the Ruhr at the three central water pumping sites Robert Müser, Friedlicher Nachbar and Heinrich (Figure 1) to the Mining Authorities of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.
After the planning notification for the Haus Aden site and thus for the future discharge to the Lippe district was already submitted in the first quarter of this year, the RAG is also seeking a water permit in the Ruhr. In addition, the company is also planning the start of the approval process for the central water pumping site Lohberg this year.
Along the Ruhr the mine water is drained and discharged at the three sites Robert Müser and Friedlicher Nachbar in Bochum, as well as Heinrich in Essen. Mine water which is only slightly mineralised has already been discharged at the discharge points under view for several decades. The amount of the mine water to be discharged is not changing; it will remain at around 25 M m3/a altogether. The company is obtaining authorisation for instead of the previous 60 only 37 M m3 in order to be able to continue to discharge mine water in the case of deviations, such as extreme rainfall.
“The special feature of the water discharge consent for the Ruhr is that we are considering all three sites in one process”, states Project Coordinator Ralf Tinnefeld from the Permit Management Department (V-GM) on the special features of the procedure. This allows a holistic view of the objects of protection to be examined in the environmental impact assessment.
After a review of the planning notification the district government will send it to other public interest bodies such as authorities, associations and municipalities and invite them to the scoping meeting. At this meeting, the content and scope of the documents submitted by RAG in the water law procedure requiring an EIA will be discussed.
Even though the sites are being considered in one process, the application and approval are effected on a local level. “This is important as water rights always only have a limited term and can be cancelled and adapted at any time”, explains Thomas Brambrink, Department Manager for Water Discharge Consent/Monitoring at V-GM. “If this is the case at one site, a location-specific adaptation can be implemented without having to reopen the entire procedure.”
The water law approval procedure for the Ruhr is the next important element in the optimisation of mine water management of the RAG. (RAG/Si.)
