The Schächtenstein mining site

The inconspicuous Schächtenstein hill in its top part hides the largest iron ore deposit in the Ralsko Geopark. The mining site is 18 metres deep in its deepest part. Today, it is filled in with fallen material. Its overall length from Hamerský Špičák to the last pit on the southwestern hill of Schächtenstein is about 96 metres.

The local mining site was based on a polzenite vein, the same vein that was mined at Devín. The decomposed volcanic vein was mined for its high iron content and good breaking characteristics. At Schächtenstein, the vulcanite is completely exhausted. Both vertical sandstone walls, originally surrounding the polzenite vein, are covered with dark rusty coatings of limonite up to several tens of centimetres thick.

An auxiliary adit about 10 metres long, cut in sandstone and perpendicular to the Děvín vein, opens from the northwest slope to the deepest accessible point of the mining site and was used to transport the excavated material and tailings that were piled on the heap, the remains of which are still visible in the terrain.

A circular depression can still be seen below the slope at the NW end. This is another mining structure that was only mapped in 1998. At that time, the mouth of a 2x1m rectangular shaft was discovered at the bottom of this mining pit. Today, it is filled in with fallen material, but it shows that the mining operations here reached even greater depths.