Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Mine du Val-de-Fer, located in Neuves-Maisons en Meurthe-et-Moselle, was operated from 1874 to 1968 for its iron ore, with galleries extending over nearly 400 km. Its operation began with Victor De Lespinats, engineer of the École des Mines in Paris, who identified the deposit in 1869 before being interrupted by the 1870 War. The Société Métallurgique de la Haute-Moselle, founded in 1872, launched the first extractions in 1874, accompanied by the construction of a nearby steel factory, connected by a railway called Le Coucou.

In 1900, four mining concessions (Val-de-Fer, Val-Fleurion, Maron-north and Fond de Monvaux) were brought together by decree, consolidating the activity. The mine experienced significant social movements, such as the establishment of a miners' union in 1890 and a mutual aid society in 1894. During the First World War, women and invalids were hired to maintain production, while in 1914 General de Castelnau installed his headquarters there during the German offensives towards Nancy.

After World War II, the mine modernized its infrastructure, but international competition led to its decline in the 1960s. Despite strikes, it closed definitively on 31 December 1968. Since the 1990s, an association of former miners, AMO, has been restoring galleries to a museum, open to the public during Heritage Days. The site, which was listed as a historic monument in 1992, includes a 1930s ore accumulator, now in rehabilitation.

Speleologist François Boyette (1948–2016) played a key role in securing galleries, leading to the creation of an alley in his name in 2017. Since 2018, the NAC has been monitoring the site on a monthly basis, while the municipality of Neuves-Maisons, owner, is undertaking restoration work co-financed by the department, the Greater East Region and Europe. A 90-metre relief gallery was dug, and 19th-century underground accumulators were rediscovered.

The mine is part of an educational course including the old railway leading to the factory, marked by historical beacons. Its galleries still supply drinking water to neighbouring municipalities (Maron, Chaligny, Chavigny) via the community of Moselle and Madon, while patron companies now support its preservation.

Future

Since the 1990s, an association of former miners, the AMO (Workshop of Memoir Ouvrière), has restored part of the galleries in order to transform them into a museum. The museum thus receives more than a thousand visitors during the Heritage Days of a place registered as historical monuments in 1992.

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