Wettelrode - Since February 21, the Röhrig shaft of the Wettelrode visitor mine has experienced increased and massive water ingress into the roadway, so that the mine had to be closed for tourist operations and immediate emergency water management measures had to be initiated. Matthias Grünberg, head of Rosenstadt GmbH, which operates the visitor mine, speaks of a situation that has never occurred to this extent. Underground, heavy water inflows from the ridge and thrust ensure a constantly rising water level. At the beginning of March, the water level was already knee-high.
At around 150 cubic meters of water per hour, twice the normal amount was initially pumped from the first level of the Röhrig shaft into the Segen-Gottes-Stollen, 120 meters higher up, via a permanently installed pump system.
From there, the water is discharged into the Helme tributary Gonna.

As it was nevertheless impossible to control the enormous influx of water despite increased pumping capacities, additional pumping equipment was requested by the Lausitzer- und Mitteldeutsche Bergbau-Verwaltungsgesellschaft (LMBV). Immediately after Danny Bodenstab, head of Schachtbau's mining and plant engineering division, made his first inspection of the shaft on February 28, shaft builders and more powerful pumps were therefore deployed. Together with this additional pumping system including risers in the shaft, which were hooked into the pump sump on the 1st level, the total pumping capacity was increased to more than three cubic meters of water per minute.
In the coming weeks, Schachtbau will continue to support the LMBV on site with personnel and equipment in order to prevent the acute danger of a rapid rise in water levels and the associated risk of a power failure and rapid subsidence of the mine. The visitor mine in Wettelrode will remain closed until further notice.