The period of greatest exploitation

Thanks to the management of the company Elzéar Alda till 1905 and subsequently of the Società Anonima Ollomont, the early years of the twentieth century were the period of greatest exploitation of the mine that employed more than a thousand workers in the area. Important expenses were a orded for the construction of American ovens in Frissonière, for the washing plant and the power plant at Ollomont. To facilitate the handling of the mineral, some new galleries were opened in the Saint-Jean section such as the Sant’Anna gallery at level of Les Rey factories. From this level three new shafts called Saint-Jean, Challant and Arolla were dug following the slope of the cultivation filons to be used for service activities such as the handling of extracted material, the access of miners and the drainage of water that flooded most of the galleries.

In March 1909 the Frissonière haulage tunnel, 2.5 km in length, was also inaugurated; running from the Saint-Jean galleries it facilitated the transport of the mined material to the new foundries of Valpelline built near La Fabrique. However, due to poor performance and high costs, the operations were suspended and the equipment was sold out. An attempt to resume was made by the Società Anonima Minières et Fonderies de Valpelline but was not successful.

Page updated on 20/02/2024