Balogh Zoltán (szerk.): Neograd 2018 - A Dornyay Béla Múzeum Évkönyve 41. (Salgótarján, 2018)

Prakfalvi Péter: A Salgótarjáni Vasfinomító Rt., majd a Rimamurány-Salgótarjáni Vasmű Rt. medvesi szénbányászatának kezdeti időszaka (1868 - 1940)

PETER PRAKFALVI

THE INITIAL PERIOD OF MEDVES COAL MINING OF THE SALGÓTARJÁN IRON REFINERY LTD., THEN OF THE RIMAMURÁNY-SALGÓTARJÁN IRONWORKS LTD. (1868-1940)

In 1868, Manó Andrássy founded the Salgótarján Iron Refinery Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Iron Refinery). The company planned to provide the raw iron from the Gömör shells and the heat energy necessary for the production of steel unlike previous practice by firing with wood, but by burning the coal that was prevalent at that time. In addition to choosing Salgótarján, one of the most pressing arguments was that a significant amount of carbon was discovered in the area, which is planned to be sufficient for the metallurgy to be started. (I note, among other reasons, it was found that „good building stone, clay and sand” on the site could be found, which were essential for building both the factory and the „colonies”.) The Salgótarján Coal Mining Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as SKB Ltd.), which was owning the vast majority of the area’s coal fields, was formed at the same time with the Iron Refinery (August 1868, Dzsida J. 1944), it would have been expected that the Iron Refinery would buy from them the mineral raw material for heat energy. This was not the case, although coal mining requires special know-how, which the Iron Refinery did not have (the iron ore mining technology is partly different from coal mining). The study, while summarizing the company’s local coal mining activities, is also trying to find out why they have decided to do their own mining. Both reservoirs retained from coal mining and well-stocked mining maps play an important role in the dissemination opportunities of Novohrad-Nógrád Geopark.

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