GEOMIN ++ Limestome plant Lengefeld ++ Erzgebirgische Kalkwerke GmbH ++

Limestome plant Lengefeld

Location and type of the operation

The mining facilities and processing plant Lengefeld as well as the administrative department of the GEOMIN-Erzgebirgische Kalkwerke GmbH are located in the part Kalkwerk of the town Lengefeld.

The company is directly located at the B 101 in the section Annaberg-Buchholz and Freiberg, 2,5 km south of the city Lengefeld, district: Erzgebirgskreis.

The first documentary mention of deposit Kalkwerk Lengefeld dates back to the year 1549.

After century-long mining in the open pits, the underground mining has been started since 1925.

In the preparation plant of the department Lengefeld of the company GEOMIN powder und fine sands as well as terrazzo-granulations and carbonic magnesium-lime are manufactured.

The trade names of the products are Saxocarb^®, Saxogran^® and white Lengefeld-marble.

Geological-mineralogical description of the deposit

The valuable material component of the deposit Lengefeld is exclusive dolomite marble. The dolomite marble is 680 million years old. After its orogeny the carbonate body has its origin in sediment eras. The dolomitization of the primary limestone essentially took place via magnesium-rich marine deep-sea-pore-water during the diagenesis.

geological exploratory drilling

The deposit Lengefeld is part of the Central European Variscian orogeny. The carbonaceous sediments belong to the oceanic crust of the Saxothuringian suture zone, which has been subducted beneath the continental crust of the Bohemian mass. Due to the pressure and the temperature deformation and re-crystallization of the carbonaceous rocks to marble took place during metamorphism. The degree of the metamorphism is greenschist to amphibolite facies.

Finally, a magnesium-metasomatism took place during the Variscian orogeny about 320 million years ago resulting in the addition of magnesium-rich hydrothermal fluids. These metasomatic processes overprinted the entire marble unit during the tectonic deformation of the brittle rocks.

The metamorphic transformation of the dolomitic marble led to grain boundary sliding and dynamic re-crystallization resulting in the homogenization of the grain sizes of the minerals.

The dolomite marble of Lengefeld has a high frost-resistance, a small water-holding capacity and high abrasion ability. The pressure strength is 105 N/mm². The water solubility of the marble has not been determined. Due to its purity no traces of heavy metals occur in the crystal lattice of the dolomite marble.

Excerpt from the operating chronicle

1528	First mention of mining the deposit Lengefeld on leaning letter Mining on the basis of leases under supervision of the royal Saxonian of forest-departments
1567	Existence of 1 quarry and 2 kilns shown in documents
1585	Mining concession to the Italian sculptor and architect Nossini by the Saxonian cure prince
1827	First plan representation of the limestone quarry Lengefeld by mine surveyor Steeger
1863	Sinking of the first shaft
1899	Beginning of the Sinking of shaft 2 Completation 1904 Start-up 1909
1914	Shut-down of the shaft 1
1919	Allegation of the department under the Saxonian Treasury, where 1920 a "management of the national lime burning plants" were furnished
1925	Beginning of the underground mining
1927	Allegation of the mine under the "management of the national lime and hard block factories" in Dresden
1945	Storage of a part of the inventory of the painting gallery of Dresden in the chambers of the 2nd Sole
1968	Beginning of the development of the "new bed"
1972	Beginning of the raise for shaft 3 in the "new bed", for the time being it was only used as an airshaft
1975	Stop of the burning lime production
1990	Affiliation to the Erzgebirgische Kalkwerke GmbH with the main department in Oberscheibe under administration of the trust establishment of Berlin
1990	Abandonment of the shaft 2, start-up of the shaft 3
1992	Affiliation to the GEOMIN-Erzgebirgische Kalkwerke GmbH with its main department in Lengefeld
1993	Refitting the equipment of the mine to the LHD technology
1994	New production line for fine sand goes on stream for the new product range "Saxocarb" and "Saxogran"
1997	Extention of fine sand production
1999	New mixing station goes on stream