KLEMENT MINE (GIFTKIES)
Introduction
The Klement shaft was sunk after 1947 in connection with uranium exploration. It reached a depth of about 57 metres and was connected in the mid-1950s by a crosscut to the Nikolaj shaft. No significant uranium deposits were found.
History
The mine was established on the site of the older Giftkies operation, mentioned together with a processing works as early as 1618. The site specialised in mining arsenopyrite used for arsenic production. The processing works stood between the Wenzel and Schönerz adits below the Elbe valley forester’s lodge, near today’s Hájenka cottage. Copper and later cobalt ores for cobalt blue pigment were produced as by-products.
In 1687 the mine and works were purchased by a group of entrepreneurs from Meissen holding a monopoly on arsenic production. After the acquisition, the works supplied more than half of the arsenic required in the Habsburg monarchy. The last known reference to the works dates from 1771.
Description and present significance
The main Giftkies adit has survived and is notable for colourful mineral coatings of copper and iron arsenates forming blue, green and whitish deposits, along with speleothem-like formations of glockerite and calcite. In 2011 the secondary uranium mineral agrikolait was first described here by Dr. Hloušek. Although the modern Klement Mine did not become an important uranium producer, the locality remains significant for its mining history and mineralogical interest.
