The Compagnie des mines de Bruay (''English'': Bruay Mining Company) was a French

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

extraction company which operated in the Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin between 1850 and 1946. It operated 18 mine shafts at eight production sites in

Bruay-la-Buissière Bruay-la-Buissière (; vls, Bruwaei, pcd, Brouay-l'Bussière) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region in northern France. Geography A former coalmining town some southwest of Béthune and southwest of ...

, Haillicourt, Divion and

Houdain Houdain () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Geography A former coalmining, now a light industrial and farming town, situated some south of Béthune at the junction of the D86, D301 and the ...

. The company's first pit was opened at the end of 1852 in Bruay, and a further seven had opened nearby by 1854. Four more were dug from 1864 to 1866, and a further four between 1873 and 1874. In 1890, the Compagnie des Mines de Bruay employed 3,600 men, 275 children and 122 women, producing 877,000 tons of coal. In 1897, production reached 1,500,000 tons with 4,580 men, 900 children and 156 women employed. By 1910, 2,500,000 tons of coal was being extracted by the company annually. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

the Germans failed to capture the Bruay shafts, despite their close proximity to the front line. Overseen by Jules Elby, the company produced 2,081,000 tons in 1914, 3,143,000 tons in 1915, 3,325,000 tons in 1916 and 4,504,000 tons in 1917. In 1918, the company employed 20,505 workers. By 1939, the Bruary mines were producing approximately 3,161,000 tons of coal and 230,000 tons of Carbolux each year. By this stage the company had a central washhouse, a low-temperature distillation plant, a ball mill, a power station at Labuissière, 160 kilometers of railway, a shore at Bethune, 389 houses for workers and a hospital. The Bruay Mining Company was nationalised by the French state in 1946, and coal extraction at its sites ended in the 1970s and 1980s.Guy Dubois et Jean Marie Minot, ''Histoire des Mines du Nord et du Pas-de-Calais''. Volume I (1991), p. 143-147.

References

{{Authority control History of Hauts-de-France Mining in France Coal companies of France French brands French companies established in 1850 1946 disestablishments in France Energy companies established in 1850 Non-renewable resource companies disestablished in 1946