The activity in the Balme mine begins around 1850 but it is only with the interruption of the work in the Saint-Jean well in 1857, due to the breakdown of a machine for the extraction of water, that the company directs the activity in this area, not having obtained great results at first.
It is explored for about 200 meters horizontally and for as many vertically, from 1227 meters to 1431 meters above sea level, on ten levels of tunnels.
Cultivation takes place starting from a system of horizontal tunnels connected to the surface through a vertical service shaft about 100 meters in height through which the movement of the extracted mate- rial, the passage of miners and the removal of leaking water takes place. The entrance to this well is created inside a cave dug into the rock and called the “winch chamber”.
The Balme tunnel, whose entrance below the “square of the well” at an altitude of 1372 meters is no longer visible today, is the main excavation and runs horizontally for more than 200 meters.
The Balme section
Started in 1850, activity in the Balme mine intensified after 1857, extending over ten levels and 200 metres horizontally and vertically, with a vertical service shaft for transporting material and removing water.
Page updated on 21/02/2024