The last phase of mining
Already around 1960, the AMMI company (Azienda Minerali Metallici Italiana) had thought of abandoning the mining village of S. Martin am Schneeberg and of reaching the ore deposits from Ridnaun. Their aim was that of improving the miners’ living and working conditions and of avoiding high haulage costs across the Schneebergscharte.
As a first step, in 1962, excavation of the Poschhaus gallery in the Lazzacher Tal was begun, slightly under 2,000 m altitude, and an advance of about 3.6 km was made towards the White Rocks of Schneeberg. In 1967, the ore deposit was exposed and so work could be begun from underneath, towards the old mine above. At the same time, near the Maiern enrichment plant, in addition to the already existing miners’ houses, a large building containing offices and residential apartments was put up, including some low-rent apartments. A cable-car system was also built, climbing from Maiern through the Lazzacher Tal to about 700 m from the Poschhaus gallery, from which point an artificial gallery (Schneekragen) departed, partly completely underground, to the mouth of the Poschhaus gallery.
All these structures meant that there was no longer any good reason for the mining community not to move from St. Martin am Schneeberg. And this move was accelerated by the fire on June 16 1967. The mining village, centuries-old and unique of its kind, at an altitude of 2,354 m, was abandoned. The remaining miners had lived since 1967 at the top of the Ridnauntal and went to work in the mine by cable-car.
Ore transport was also fundamentally simplified. It now went direct through the Poschhaus gallery to reach a large new crushing plant with plenty of storage space. The cable-cars which went up and down the mountain had done their duty. In spite of enormous investments and innovations, the progressive decline of the mining industry could not be halted. The high cost of production in the mountains meant that competition on the world market, where the prices of lead and zinc were steadily falling, could not be sustained.
After years of uncertainty, accompanied by many negotiations between company managements, trade unions and public offices, in December 1979 work finally ceased. Most of the workers were made redundant. A prospecting program the following year aimed at opening profitable deposits deeper down and at ensuring jobs for the approximately 45 remaining miners for the coming years. Although exploratory drilling appeared to give satisfactory results, the last company, SAMIM (Società Azionaria Minero-Metallurgica) closed the mine on May 5 1985, and the jobs of all except five of the miners were terminated. The following year, these miners set up a consortium and, until 1989, carried out clearing and safety operations in the Poschhaus and Karl galleries.
Due to the protracted end of mining at Schneeberg, after the 1960s the workforce had steadily fallen from 350 to 42, so that definitive mine closure did not cause serious problems of unemployment.
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