You can helpexpand this article with text translated fromthe corresponding article in French. (October 2013)Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the French article. Machine translation, likeDeepL orGoogle Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Consideradding a topic to this template: there are already 2,009 articles in themain category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. Youmust providecopyright attribution in theedit summary accompanying your translation by providing aninterlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary isContent in this edit is translated from the existing French Wikipedia article at [[:fr:Houillères de Ronchamp]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template{{Translated|fr|Houillères de Ronchamp}} to thetalk page. For more guidance, seeWikipedia:Translation.

TheRonchamp Coal Mines were an area ofcoal mines located in theVosges and Jura coal mining basins, in easternFrance. They covered three municipalities;Ronchamp,Champagney andMagny-Danigon. Operated for more than two centuries, from the mid-eighteenth century until the mid-twentieth century, they have profoundly changed the landscape, the economy and the local population.

Mining began inRonchamp in the mid-18th century and had developed into a large industry by the late 19th century, employing 1500 people.

Extraction started inadit before being dug at coal mine Saint Louis in 1810, introducing the first realextraction mine-shaft. The shaft seams sunk more and more, and became deeper until the well, owned by (Civil Society coal Ronchamp), eventually became the deepest mine in France beating the coal mine du Magny (694 meters) in 1878 and thecoal mine Arthur de Buyer (1010 meters) in 1900. After the nationalisation of mines in 1946, the shaft and thethermal power station was entrusted toElectricité de France.

After closing in 1958, the mining sites and infrastructures were demolished and workers had to convert to other professions. Later, a museum and two associations were created to preserve the memory of the mining heritage and several sites were redeveloped to become tourist attractions.

The museum looks back at the miner's work, their techniques, tools they used and their social life. A collection of miners lamps are also on display.^[1][2]

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Location of Ronchamp, in the east of the department ofHaute-Saône in the region ofBourgogne-Franche-Comté.

The zone exploited and influenced by the coal mines corresponds to theRonchamp and Champagney mining basin which is at the heart of theVosges and Jura coal mining basins, on the eastern part of the French department of theHaute-Saône, in the northern part of the French region ofBourgogne-Franche-Comté, close toAlsace and the industries ofMulhouse. The coal mines are then an essential source of energy for both regions. The Alsatiancatchment area is between the towns of Mulhouse,Thann andCernay.^[3]

The concession of Ronchamp, Champagney and Éboulet, where the mines are exploited, has 4503 hectares and includes the communes ofRonchamp,Champagney,Magny-Danigon,Clairegoutte,Andornay,Palante andLa Côte (only the first three havecoal mines). It is surrounded by theMourière concession to the northwest, theSaint-Germain concession to the west and theLomont concession to the south but also by other exploratory mines to the east.

Coal deposits were discovered in Ronchamp in the mid-18th century. Mining activity was a complementary resource for a population whose main occupation was agriculture. In 1744, two exploration galleries and various surface excavations were dug, but these works were unofficial.^[2] In 1749, the lord of Gensanne, owner of mines inPlancher-les-Mines and several mines in Alsace, sent a piece of coal to a laboratory inBesançon for analysis.^[2] It was in 1751 that several applicants for exploitation came forward. Among them, two local industrialists: the lord of Gensanne and François Guy, owner of a large forge inMagny-Vernois. In the end, none of them obtained a concession.^[4]

Two concessions were finally granted in 1757,^[2][5] the concession of the lords of Ronchamp in Ronchamp, granted on September 11, 1757, and the concession of theprince-abbots ofLure inChampagney, granted on April 21, 1757.

The decree of September 24, 1768 granted the barons of Ronchamp and associates the exclusive exploitation, for a period of about thirty years, of all the coal mines that are located within the extent of the barony of Ronchamp. The two concessions became one, and they were operated at common expense by the two concessionaires, who requested a single concession. This was granted by the decree of March 1, 1763.^[2]

• 
  The offices of the Coal mine of Ronchamp (2012).
• 
  Coal mine Arthur de Buyer ruin.
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  Coal mine Sainte-Marie in 2007.

• Godard, Michel (2012).Enjeux et impacts de l'exploitation minière du bassin houiller de Ronchamp (1810-1870) [Issues and Impacts of Mining in the Ronchamp Coalfield (1810-1870)](PDF) (in French). University of Technology of Belfort-Montbéliard.

• Ronchamp coal mine railway
• Notre-Dame Mine Shaft
• Arthur de Buyer Coal Mine
• Sainte Marie Coal Mine
• Sainte-Barbe Coal Mine
• Hamlet of La Houillère
• The large drainage channel of the Ronchamp coal mines
• Mining basin of Ronchamp and Champagney
• Saint-Charles shaft
• Thermal power station of Ronchamp

Wikimedia Commons has media related toBassin minier de Ronchamp et Champagney.

• (in French)Les amis du musée de la mine.
• English website about the Coal mine of Ronchamp

• Ronchamp coal mines
• Coal mines in France

• Articles needing translation from French Wikipedia
• CS1 French-language sources (fr)
• Commons category link is locally defined
• Articles with French-language sources (fr)
• History articles needing translation from French Wikipedia
• Science and technology articles needing translation from French Wikipedia