The Oranje Nassau Mijnen was a
coal mine company, established in 1893 by Friedrich Honigmann (1841-1913) and Carl Honigmann (1842-1903) to exploit the rich
coal deposits in and around
Heerlen. That there were
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 dea ...
deposits around Heerlen was already known for centuries (coal had been dug up since the 13th century around
Rolduc
Rolduc is the name of a medieval abbey located on the edge of the town of Kerkrade in the far south-east of the Netherlands. It is today a Roman Catholic seminary with an affiliated conference center. The abbey is a '' rijksmonument'' (Dutch n ...
), but efficient transportation was lacking. In 1886
Henri Sarolea
Henri Sarolea (18 January 1844, Maastricht – 12 September 1900, Heerlen), was a Dutch railway entrepreneur and contractor who settled in Heerlen after having worked on the railways in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia).
His house in Heerl ...
(January 18, 1844,
Maastricht
Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...
- September 12, 1900,
Heerlen) had the idea of building a railroad between
Herzogenrath,
Heerlen, and
Sittard
Sittard (; ) is a city in the Netherlands, situated in the southernmost province of Limburg.
The town is part of the municipality of Sittard-Geleen and has almost 37.500 inhabitants in 2016.
In its east, Sittard borders the German municipali ...
, which was finished in 1896. It was this plan that prompted the building of the first mine (
Oranje Nassau I, production from 1899 to 1974).
While Oranje Nassau Mijnen was the public name of the company, the legal name was N.V. Maatschappij tot Exploitatie van Limburgsche Steenkolenmijnen. It was the largest private mining company in the Netherlands and is now owned by the French Wendel Investissement group, which acquired the founders' shares in 1908.
Mines
*
Oranje Nassau I (1899-1974),
Heerlen, Production: 31,978,000 tons
*
Oranje Nassau II (1904 - 1971),
Landgraaf, Production: 34,064,000 tons
*
Oranje Nassau III (1917 - 1973),
Heerlerheide
Heerlerheide, in Limburgish ''Heëlehei'' or ''Gen Hei'', is a Dutch village located in the commune of Heerlen, in the province of Dutch Limburg
Limburg (, ) is the southernmost of the twelve provinces of the Netherlands. It is bordered by Ge ...
(
Heerlen), Production: 38,265,000 tons
*
Oranje Nassau IV (1927 - 1966),
Heksenberg (
Heerlen), Production: 13,754,000 tons
Total production: 111,016,000 tons
The ON I and ON III are now part of the
Minewater Project
The Minewater Project, based in Heerlen and other areas, aims to demonstrate how the geothermal energy stored by mine water can be used as a safe and ecological way to heat buildings.
Aims
The aims of the pilot projects are:
*to supply new, 'gree ...
, ON IV is now the
Sigrano a
silversand mine, part of
Sibelco.
References
External links
De Oranje-Nassau-mijnen op www.ta.tudelft.nl
Heerlen
History of Limburg (Netherlands)
Companies based in Limburg (Netherlands)
Coal companies of the Netherlands
Defunct energy companies of the Netherlands
{{Netherlands-hist-stub