Loire coal mining basin

Localisation - bassin houiller de la Loire

The

Loire The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône ...

coal mining basin is an area of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

that has been shaped by seven centuries of

coal extraction Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

from the 13th century to the 20th century and represents a significant period in the history of European industrialisation. File:Mine Loire 18e siècle.jpg, 18th-century exploitation. File:Chatelus.png, Chatelus schaft at the beginning of the 20th century. File:Saint-Étienne-Chevalement du Puits Couriot-20110323.jpg, Couriot Shaft became a mining museum in 1991. ;See also * Saint-Étienne Mine Museum Coal mining regions in France {{mining-stub