THE SMELTING PLANT OF THE MERCURY MINE (PART 2: UNLOADING STATION OF THE TRANSPORTATION CABLEWAY)
Name 2
/
ID number
002.78.Idrija
Manager / Administrator
Idrija Mercury Heritage Management Center, Bazoviška 2, SI-5280 Idrija
Ownership
Public
Owner
Republic of Slovenia
Local / Original ID Number
Part of EŠD 7460
Type of Object
Mine, Smelting
Description
Short description
The unloading station of the transportation cableway consists of the supporting frames, headspace for weights of supporting ropes, space for weight of a tow rope underneath and reception bunkers. This station is covered with light corrugated roof sheets on a wooden support. The front part of the station is open, the last part, where the bunkers are located, is lined with walls. One bunker is covered with tempered glass, with a visible cast iron sorting net under it. The other two bunkers are closed with a wooden barrier.
Measures
/
Materials
Armoured-concrete, wood, tempered glass, cast iron
Dating
/
Author / Producer
1957
Picture attachments
Original use
During its operation, the unloading station of the transportation cableway was a part of the bigger system for ore transport. It was built in 1957 and it operated until 1977. The cableway, the initial part of which was in the loading station of the Joseph's shaft, was channelled through town, 1100 m in length, all the way to the final station in the area of the smelting plants. The capacity of the cableway was 40-50 tons of ore/hour. Every minute, a wagon with 800 kg of ore arrived in the sorting plant, which was then intercepted by a qualified worker. The ore was then poured into the intended reception bunkers. From here on, the ore was regulatively directed onto the crushing device.
Present use
The unloading station of the transportation cableway is being preserved, secured and presented as important mining heritage of Idrija with exceptional universal values. Visitors can view it within the permanent museum exhibition “From Ore to Mercury Drops”. Within the exhibition, the final station of the transport cableway represents the method of ore transporting and sorting for the needs of the smelting process. In this part of the exhibition, the visitors may also watch a section of a documentary film “Reflections of a Silver Era”, which represents the technologically advanced process of ore excavation and ore smelting and the life of Idrija miners in the beginning of 1970s. The facilities and the machines on the smelting plant area have great historical value. This area represents a final stage of development in the 500 years long history of mining and tradition of smelting, since its devices and objects were operating all until the mine was closed.
2017: The final station of the transport cableway was renovated within the first phase of the arrangement of the entire smelting plant complex and the revival of the activities in it.
Present state
good
Necessary activities:
Performing regular maintenance services by the programme, including status control and preservation, security and presentation of the heritage.
DOCUMENTATION
Addresses / collections / links etc. where further in-depth information is accessible:
- CUDHg Inventory Book;
- The Cultural Heritage Register of the Republic of Slovenia;
- Ordinance on the proclamation of the technical heritage in the Idrija and its surroundings for cultural monuments of national importance. Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia no. 66/01, 55/02, 16/08;