Draft:Fosse Bonnel

The Bonnel Pit of the Aniche Mining Company is a former coal mine in the Mining Basin of Nord-Pas-de-Calais, located in Lallaing. The two shafts were started in 1913 and 1914, while the Bernard and Lemay pits were under construction in the north of the concession. The war halted the works, which were not resumed until 1921, the year in which the pit was repaired. The sinking of shaft No. 1 was completed on December 10, 1921, and the pit began production in 1923, with shaft No. 2 coming into service two years later. The Barrois Pit was commissioned in 1931, a little more than two kilometers east of the Bonnel Pit.

The Aniche Mining Company was nationalized in 1946, and became part of the Douai Group. Shaft No. 1 was deepened for concentration on the Barrois Pit, which was effective in 1964. Bonnel then provided service until 1974 and ventilation until June 30, 1984, the date on which the Barrois concentration closed. The shafts were backfilled in 1985, and the installations were destroyed the following year.

At the beginning of the 21st century, Charbonnages de France marked the heads of shafts Bonnel Nos. 1 and 2. Four buildings of the pit remain, as well as the mining towns, whether they were built before or after nationalization.

The Pit
While the Aniche Mining Company had begun to exploit the northern part of its concession in the previous decade by opening the Déjardin and De Sessevalle pits, it opened new pits in the north of its concession in the 1910s: Bernard, Lemay, and Bonnel. These did not really start producing until after World War I.

Sinking
A new pit was started south of Lallaing, 2280 meters east-southeast of the Déjardin pit, and 4590 meters west-northwest of the Lemay pit.

The sinking of Bonnel shaft No. 1 began in 1913, with a diameter of 5.10 meters. The casing was made of cast iron from 90 centimeters to 89.20 meters deep. The coal seam was reached at 148.50 meters. Shaft No. 2 was started in 1914, 55 meters west of shaft No. 1, with a diameter of four meters, a scheme common to the Lemay pit, and to a lesser extent De Sessevalle. The casing was in cast iron from 90 centimeters to 89.32 meters deep. The coal seam was reached at 147.50 meters. Due to World War I, the sinking of shaft No. 1 was stopped on July 4, 1914, at a depth of 189 meters. The sinking of the second shaft was also suspended.

The pit was repaired after the war. Work on shaft No. 1 resumed on July 15, 1921, and was completed on December 10 at a depth of 300 meters. Shaft No. 2 was also resumed that year.

Operation
The Aniche Mining Company acquired the Flines Mining Company on January 13, 1922. Extraction began in 1923. Shaft No. 2 was put into service in 1925.

The Barrois Pit, started four years earlier, began producing in 1931, located 2245 meters east-southeast of the Bonnel Pit.

The Aniche Mining Company was nationalized in 1946, and became part of the Douai Group. The last level was then at 290 meters, but the pit was deepened for concentration on Barrois, which was effective in 1964. From that date, like the Lemay Pit from 1965, the Bonnel Pit provided ventilation and service for the concentration, while the extraction was carried out through the Barrois Pit. The service ceased in 1974, two years after the Lemay Pit. Ventilation ceased on June 30, 1984, when the Barrois concentration closed.

The Bonnel shafts Nos. 1 and 2, respectively 500 and 305 meters deep, were backfilled in 1985. Eight levels were established in the first shaft at 160, 199, 225, 290, 303, 358, 413, and 495 meters, while shaft No. 2 had four levels, established at 160, 198, 225, and 290 meters. The headframe of shaft Bonnel No. 1 was dynamited on April 2, 1986, and that of shaft No. 2 on April 15.

Conversion
At the beginning of the 21st century, Charbonnages de France marked the heads of shafts Bonnel Nos. 1 and 2. The BRGM conducts inspections there every year.

The slag heaps
Like the Déjardin or Lemay pits, the Bonnel pit does not have its own slag heap. The creation of the Barrois pit at the end of the 1920s led to the construction of a railway branch from the Bonnel pit, established on the cavalier slag heap No. 250, known asCavalier de Bonnel to Barrois. When the Bonnel pit was concentrated on the Barrois pit, its waste was sent to the slag heaps Nos. 143 and 143A, Germinies Sud and Germinies Nord.

The settlements
Large settlements were built to the northwest of the pit. After nationalization, additional housing was also built, including some camus.