URANIUM ORE MINING IN THE JACHYMOV AREA

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Collection: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP82-00457R004600600004-5
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RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
S
Document Page Count: 
12
Document Creation Date: 
December 22, 2016
Document Release Date: 
January 12, 2012
Sequence Number: 
4
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
April 14, 1950
Content Type: 
REPORT
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PDF icon CIA-RDP82-00457R004600600004-5.pdf1.55 MB
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/12 : CIA-RDP82-00457R004600600004-5 CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY REPORT 9 FOR ATION REPORT CD NO. COUNTRY Czechoslovakia r NN;Tt TE DISTR. 14 APR 50, CONFIDES 0 k 50X1-HUM SUCJECT Uranium Ore wining in the Jachymov Area NO. OF PAGES 12 PLACE ACQUIRED DATE OF INFO?. Trig DOCOL7!C1t COWTAtt 0INFORaATIOMAPFECTINOTilet:ATIOMALDRFROSE OF THE tlNiTED STATES TliTUIN THE 6EAtlIEO OR THE @OFiONAOE ACT 90 0. e. C.. It ACID 33. AS A13E0DED. ITS TRAMBMI001OH OR THE 0SWULATION OF ITS CONT60T13 IN ANT HANNER TO AN UMAUTHORIZ@D P00002 Ia PRO. SIGIT@U OT LAW. REPRODUCTION OF TRW FORK 19 PROHIBITED, NO. OF ENCLS~ (LISTED BELOW) SUPPLEMENT TO REPORT NO. THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION STATE jARMY I troductiog majority of them The entire Jachymov project is subdivided into a number of individual mines or shafts, the majority of which are situated either directly in the out- skirts of Jachymov or in the area west of Jachymov covering about 100 square kilometers. There is one major exception to this: the Schlaekenwalde or 5lavkov shaft, also belonging to the Jachymov project, is located about 50 km. 8;v from Jachymov. Following are the names and/or locations of the shafts these are not all the shafts there, but the 50X1-HUM a. Bratrstvi (former name: Bruderlichkeit); Rovnost (Gleichheit); Svornost (Linigkeit). These three shafts are roughly located in the northern and northwestern outskirts of the town of Jachymov. Bratrstvi is about 1,500 meters from the tobacco plant (the Tabakovka, to be mentioned later) which itself is located in the northeastern end of the city; it also is about the same distance southeast of the keillberg, an elevation 1245 meters high north of the city. Svornost is located on the western edge of the northwestern end of the city, on the south side of the road leading from Jachymov to Dresden, and almost directly opposite a high-towered church. Rovnost is not quite 2,000 meters southwest of Svornost. 50X1-HUM 50X1-HUM b. Other shafts are: ::duard; Elias; Irene. These three shafts are located in a wooded area vest of the city on the east side of a forest path which goes from the town. of i3ozi Dar (Gottesgab) and. leads into the wooded area in a roughly southern direction. This path, which in February 1949 was being improved, bisects the angle formed by the roads from Abortham to Gottesgab and from Gottesgab to Jachymov. The northermost of these three shafts is Eduard, which is under constructiono Jachyymov (February 1949) [shad a depth of only 70 meters, but it is scheduled to become the main and central shaft of the entire Jachymov project, with underground con- nections to all other shafts except 8lavkov. On the vest side of the forest path, almost directly opposite, though slightly to the southwest of Eduard, is a deep boring; named Hildebrand, reaching a depth of 400 meters, Attempts to locate ore in this boring have'had unsatisfactory results. -South of Eduard on the east side of the forest path is Elias, and about 100 meters farther to the south, on the s~. a side of the path, is Irene. Although they are individual and separate shafts, Elias and Irene must be considered NSRS FBI This document is hereby regraded to CONFIDENTIAL in accordance with the ,letter of 13 OctoLer 1978 from the Director of Central intelligence to the Archivist of the United States. Next Review Date: 2008 De No hang noel Chan Auth.: HR 7 date: ?kd~ Lo FIDE Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/12 : CIA-RDP82-00457R004600600004-5 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/12 : CIA-RDP82-00457R004600600004-5 C :IvT2thL III^as,LLIG ;I?C;; iG.;;:~C;? 2 side about I km south of the Upravna, is a sr.._li shaft to;,ether for more than one reason, as will be seen below. Also belong- ing to the alias-Irene complex is the Upravna, an ore-;washing plant,, situated about 1 km south of Irene on the western side of the path. The i.lias4Srene.Upravna complex covers an area of about 1 square km and is50X1-HUM about 14. km due west of Jachymov. Farther down the path, on the west ductive, this shaft was considered pro- c? Other shafts are: Breitenba.ch, near the town of the same name; Seify. 50X1-HUM (5oifen), near the town of the same name; Abertham, near the town of the same name, and the above-mentioned Slavkov (Fichlackcntvalde), On the 50X1-HUM north side of the Abortha Gottesgab road abou~ one-third of the ray from Ab ;rtham, there is a shaft About, 2 km south of Jachymov on the Jachymoy ustrov road, there -is another shaft 50X1-HUM d, In addition to the shafts mentioned and the vertical Hildebrand boring., 'there are a number of galleries bored into hillsides whore orosoecting, 50X1 -HUM hea rs i,racn v rsv.. , -4 +1? .e_ ..u...R ... ,.. __ .,.., s _ --- -__ ...,_.. ..-- ,. +.., c....aa.M E5vu after 1945. If a straight line is drawn between Bratrstvi and :,vcrnost (connecting the two northern ends of the city), one of these galleries lies slightly to the northwest of a middle point on this line. Another gallery lies at the southern edge of the city, west of the road leading to Oatrov and immediately south of the Radius Palast, ;.eat of the above-mentioned forest path, between the town of Gottesgab and the Hildebrand boring, there is another gallery,, There is one more south of the Upr g and north of the afore-mentioned small shaft of unknown name, just vest of the farest WIVA %,V OUAI-I-IUIVI south of the Icttesgab--Dresden road and opposite the Jaehymov church, The shaft frame (Forderturm) in the hauling, plant has a height of about 30 meters; it operates two hauling cages of a height of 11 meters eacht, The cages are of iron construction and run in wooden guide rails. The. cages are sus..3ended on a steel hoisting cable which has a diameter of 38 millimeters. They are operated by an electric winch located in the machine shop. Each hauling calve has three stories, of which the two lower stories are for transporting crews and hauling ore, while the upper story is ex-- elusively for haulin;, dead rock. The shaft frame is constructed over a hauling track leading to the :.vornost rock heap, about 1 km north-east of the shaft? The trains on this hauling track are operated by both Diesel and electric locomotives. Along the south side of the hauling plant runs the main road of the Svornost area which joins the Gottesgab-Dresden road to the west, Across this read, opposite the hauling, plant, is the Svornost machine shopv which has been rebuilt from an older one; rebuilding was completed in the fall of 19/+8. It new consists of 5 parts: a generator room, the machine proper, a compressor room,, a transformer room,. and a room containing sanitary installations with an ore collar underneath it, The transformtor room (in the northwest corner of the 'auilding) contains 5 transformer cells rrri t-u vim., oi.t. transformer each. or ttlryr;e 7 tr artsrormer a, two are or oUv tt vas, one L9 of 500 KIM and th th e o er two are undetermined? The electric power arriv. i A_; at the trna sfoxiier room comes from a power cable carrying 22,000 V and servicing the entire Jachymov mining area;, It has been rumored among a san64 Oyv crews that tli'g oovj er comas from the soviet zone in Germany The haulin in h g w c tor the cages, op- crated by a. direct current compressor roam has two nress- is in t e machine room proper. The cemraressors of 6 atm, each, producing compressed air for neums:.ta.,c air drills .mad dredges which rims underground in seam- loss steel tubes. each five to eight meters in lengt , which are flanged together,, the vorn ost area is located just outside J 50X1-HUM Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/12 : CIA-RDP82-00457R004600600004-5 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/12 : CIA-RDP82-00457R004600600004-5 cn To the east of the machine shop are: (1) the Svornost workshop,, contain ng a fore., a turner's shops and an electrical workroom on the first :'loor., and a tinsmith's vorkroom. a joinery,, and a dispensary on the second floor: (2) a house used partly as residence for nine foremen and partly as offices for Russian members of the Svornost administration; (3) the residence of the Director General of the entire Jachymov min- ing project (a Czech of Slovak origin (4) an office building for Czech members of the Svornost administration; (5) a warehouse for storing tools., tubes, rails, cement, lumber n+^- 50X1-HUM d. In.the southwest corner of the 3vornost area is the camp for Garin Phi's,, which is fenced In with barbed wire ands being located on a hill., has a fenced-yin stair path (151 steps) leading to the entrance of the shaft. ou The -whole Svornost area is fenced ins on its northern side with a three- meter wooden fence topped by barbed wire, on its southern side by a barbed wire for-cc. There are two guarded entrances l=ttod on the main mine road inside the .fence. f o The main mine road leads eastward to M riasorge. where housing for Svornost miners was under construction in Fobru ,r 1949, in an area of about one and a half square kri.lometers. ., At the Svornost rock heap, which is outside the fenced-in area, there is a charging station for the batteries of the electric locomotives operating the hauling track between the shaft and the rock heap? h. The Svornost shaft has P. depth of 556 meters (the shafts which was origin- ally deeper, had to be closed with concrete at this depth because of the existence of an underground source of water below that level). The shaft has twelve levels from which seams extend in all directions. 1) The first two levels, the Tagosstollen, at a depth of about 30 meters, and Nepomuk, a little lowers are dead levels not in use,. , ? ,M 0X1 The next level, Barbara,. at about 100 m. depth, is rich in ore? 3) Then follow Daniel at about 200 m, depth with good do-posits, and T3tollc.rt at about 250 ri, also with good deposits, At Daniel there is en old connection with the Shovnost shaft, not in use now, . In Barbara. Daniels and Stoilorts only a little shootin and blasting iy, ue4.n ; done, slice most of the ore coning from t..ere is waste { .: ~.ers.s left behind when the shaft was previously exploited for other than pitchblende ore. about 300 m. is the Second Level. with poor deposits? (Note: " the desi~ ati on "second Level" a and the following "Fifth". does =:aot correspond to the actual succession of levels but is neverthloss cor rect. ) 5) ; ext i.s the Fifth Level at about 350 in, with good deposits? The Second and the Fifth Levels are vertically connected by a number of chimneys throu.-h which dead rock is dropped, collected on the Fifth Level and from there carried by hand to a bin extending vii ticaiy from the F if th to the next, Sevenths Level from which it is removed., 6G The Seventh Level at about 400 in serves only this purpose; no digging is done there. sit the.:{ ifth Level a co.tmectin ; ~m ssare to Bratrstvi is under con ya W~zc n February 1949 it r as estimated that its completion ,scold take one more ye p Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/12 : CIA-RDP82-00457R004600600004-5 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/12 : CIA-RDP82-00457R004600600004-5 O I TRAI(11ITLI.1I G11,41 GL, I G _I CY 50X1-HUM 8) Tr en there is the Eighth Level at about 450 in with rich de-oosits cone of the rock on the Eighth Level is extrarno1y hard" so that special drills, so-called "di. Lance drills", have to be used. They have cutters of 40 mm, diameter of varying lengths permitting borings as deep as 50 m, and are made of special steels, From the Eighth Level a number of chimneys lead to the Tenth Level for the purpose of dropping dead rock, From there the dead rock is carried to a bin extend ng vertically frori the Tenth to the Eleventh Level., where it is coUected and removed, 9) The Tenth Level *,t about 500 m? has good deposits, but the Elavew Ia Level, like the ::seventh, serves .?.nly for the removal of waste and has, no diggi.n ., 10) The last levels called Two:' t ,,,has rich deposits,, A sms?:l haul- ing installation, runs between -;he Twelfth and Tenth Levels rand the bin there so that rook can be iauled into the bin and removed on the Eleventh Lo'iel.,, A conneciing passar;e from the Twelfth Level to Bratrstvi is unier construction,, It is estiria ;ed that its completion will take as much time as thy. ; of the corresponding passage on the Fifth Level (ai.ove),, The reajan for the attempts to connect Bratrstvi with Svornos t is that the rock. heaps et Bratrstvi are nearly filled and the two co:znecting missages under construction gill be for the transportation ol. dead rock from Iratrstvi to !~vornost and the good 'anlinr i_nstals,al ions of Svornost may ale:. teen be used for Bratrstvi, he Twelfth Level also has a connection ,vit'p Ro *.nost, about L7 km iri length rshich, though stemroin' from earlier f -me Li is now in operation acid is being used to transport lead rock from ' , avnost to the hauling iaastallati~ans of .vornost0 The hauling is dor. in trains pulled by olcctrio looomotivas pulling twe:aty to twentyrfiye mine cars (iIundcal 50X1-HUM i., ufiost of the rnech?ana; cal and electric equipment inside the shaft is con . t:entrat.eed on the Twelfth Level? In addition to the Twelfth Level equip meat (i entioned be :cry:!) there is a t),ain of mine cars on the aelfth Level ptttled by a Diesel locomotive over a stretch of 700 to 800 meters, and there are two snail conveyor bolts on the Seveeth and Eleventh Levels (one at a'a.ah) servi cinr; the bins t,srminati ig there? On. the .twelfth Level ti~aere is a:a electric switch statica which Ls fed from the transformer ZOOM in the machine shop above ground, Tre switch station serves the electric li~,%t system,, the pump ? rstorm, to above-mentioned small hauling installation from the Twelfth to the Ten bovel,srid two big vonti.l.ators in operation s::.nce February 194c (on the .)ther floors there are small ventilators) The switch station is corn acted ?r,o the transformer room above ground by to cables each having thee conductors 310 mm square and one conddudter 190 nn squarri and carry Cn , alternating current of 380 V, 500 ampe ?e.s, and by another cable havi: g four conductors 80 ram ;square carrying alternating current . f 3000 V, 3 Amp, for one of the pumps mentioned below. Two more cables each having one conductor 400 mm square and carrying- direct current cf 80 V, 40C arnp0 lead down from th : trans 7 former room to the Twelfth Leval without passing through the "witch station; they serves the electr . s trains operating between Svornost and Rovnost,, Thaer; iz e,. furthermor;a, a si a.c1 cable servin, ? the signal installa- 6 ons c-: t the loa.ai:, - tiou or. the il.ulviauai levels, This electric si ll s r parr was not yet f xa:.shed 50X1-HUM in February 1949 bb,it is probab'y finis led by note, 1 e former signal system cons:L seed of mechanical installations operated by ropes? There is a:3 so a. telep lone cab'_e for telephone connections between the Tuelftla sevel anc. all ot?? ;r levels and above ground and between the in.dividu .l_ l evol s,, All ~.hese cables, with the exception of the abov a-mantioxe 3000 V cable;, were newly ita ztalled or rebuilt during the ';,,inter of :t948/49.. The eJ e~ctric light system inside the shaft is rather poor with the exception of the q,,?ston on the Twelfth Level, which is more extensi?1e, tin B arbara, Daniel m Stollor.?t and the Second Levels there is only one electric light at the filling, stations of these levels and beyond that there are no lamps,. There are several lights at the bins on the Fifth argd j ,,nth Levels,, and several on the Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 20011`2/01/12: CIA-RDP82-00457R004600600004-5 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/12 : CIA-RDP82-00457R004600600004-5 iT c":ad`"I;~'+I. Ii T T IU'l~C .U : CY 50X1-HUM Sevenths l;ighth, and eleventh Levels. The electric light current branches off from the 380 V cable and passes throuf-h Cllr 21 ampere transformers installed on the individual levels., cinere it is trans'. formed into 24 V,, 48 V, and also 220 V (in spite of the fact that use of 220 V light current is prohibited in mines). The pumping system on the Twelfth Level consists of four pumps, trio of which were installed during the winter of 1947/48 after the shaft was inundated up to the Tenth floor as a result of the melting; of heavy sncv. All pumps are operated by three-phase alternating current. The trio pumps which were there before the wwistor of 1947/48 are a stamp water pump for accumulated water ana a ru uum waxer pwup. i son or Ttnem is auto to pump about 1,000 liters of water per minute up to the level of Daniel (i.e. a height of about 250 m.), and from there it runs through pipes outside the shaft, The radium water is led into the city of Jachymov. The capacity of 1,000 liters per minute is attempted only during inundations; normally there is only radium water from a scurce on the Twelfth floor, of which an averag? 60 liters per minute is pumped to Daniel, in addition to some sump water from time to time. The sump ratter pump is driven by a motor of 380 V, 230 amp; the radium water pump by a high-speed Sehorech motor of 3,000 V, 230 amp. and 1,800 to 1,900 revolutions per minute. The two pumps, newly installed in the winter of 1947/48, are driven by CKD motors (Ceskonmoravska Kolben-Danek) of 380 V, 150 amps. These two pumps are mounted in a serial nump connection, one sucking the other forcing the tiof t.4r te, f)nni.el and from thnrR ontraick .. Svornost is work; in three d-lifts of eight hours each, On the average the area composing one underground shift consists of 120 PV=s and 150 , civilians, mostly Czechs with cone ilusc ans and Germans among them, Of these 270 men per shift about 55 arc actual havers in the proportion of 15 PVdas to 4.0 civilians. No women are working underground (with the exception of geologists or radiometric workers to mentioned later.~ but about 20 t o 25 women per shift work above ; ,undo k. At the end of an old and the beginning of a new shift, the hauling. in- stallation transports the crews; i.e. it hauls out the old crew and., at the same time, lancers in the new one in the double-cage hauling elevators. In one run six craw members can be carried in each of the two lover stories of each hauling cage which, when transporting crews, runs at an average steed of 6 m per second. Immediately after the crews are trans narted, the hauling,. out of dead rock begins, last ng an average of six hours per shift. Tho dead rock is hauled in the upper- most story of the hauling cage which on this occasion runs at a speed of 10 n per second. Then powder and blasting rt.torial are delivered to the individual levels from the Twelfth Level" where the explosives dump is locaztad, This matorial is transported in the crew stories of the hauling ca-,e; no ordinary crew members are allowed to accompany such transports exce_rt head hewers and shift loaders. The blasting powder called Donarit is carried in bores of 25 Kg. An average varying from 2 to 4,5 of these boxes per shift is hauled and used. The last activity of tie hauling instaallz:~tion at the end of a shift is transport- ing ore. a representative of the average over a longer period. In February 50X1 -HUM 1949, the average svorro t yield of ore was 100 buckets per shift, a bucket carrying from 20 to 50 kg of ores, according to its specific weight. The folloviliv. circumstances must be then into consideration in order to a .-rive at a reasonable appreciation of the yield figures s 1) The abova.mentioned figure for the Svornost yield of dead rock per shift includes the yield of dead rock coming i rors hovnost through the Twelfth Level cornocting passage between the two shafts. The electric trains between Rovnost and Svornost carry an average of the followi.n, February 1949 yield of ore may be considered reason- Svornost yield of ore because it varies greatly 1^ The Svornost =yield of dead rock and ore is as folla,7s. Yield of dead bock,, though varying, can be set at an average 600 tons per eight-hour shift., transported by 200 runs of the cage carrying three tons each time,, After arriving above ground the dead rock is emptied into bins and from there into tilting carts. Transfer of the rodk from the bins 50X1-HUM to the carts is done by throe persons operating hand levers. The rock is then carried in trains noeiored by electric or Diesel engines to the Svornost rock heap (aabou?t i Icra.. distance). It is hard to fix the Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/12 : CIA-RDP82-00457R004600600004-5 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/12 : CIA-RDP82-00457R004600600004-5 C!1 TR41. I11Tti. .LlMiXi, :X:':";CY 150 to 200 mine cars nor shift. These cars have a capacity of 0,75 cu. meters, each taking about 1500 to 2000 pounds of dead rock if filled up and if the rock is wet, as is the ease in both shafts,, This means that the 1icvnost share in the Svornost yield of dead rock constitutes am:.ximum of 200 tons per shift, leavin,j the Svorncst yield proper at about 400 tons per shift. However, the Rovnost figure does not represent its entire shift yield because Rovnost also has a hauling installation of its own, 2) The daily output of dead rock as well as ore is not arrived. at by multiplyin;-, by three the yield figure per shift for the following reason: One of the three eight-hour shifts is almost exclusively for the transportation of material from above ground into the shaft (an operation called 'a.terialsteckung),, such as lumbers iron,, explosives,, tools, etc. This is done mostly during the night shift. Only in emergency cases, e.g. if too much material has been accumulated within the shaft, will the third shift or part of it be used for 1muling-out operations. This fixes the daily Svornost yield of dead rock, including the Rovnost share, at an average of 1,200 to a maximum of 1,500 tons. The corresponding daily figure for ore yield is 200 buckets, representing an average of from 4,000 to a uwdmam of 10,000 kg per day. In regard to monthly output it must be taken in consideration that the number of holidays Urant4ad to Jachymov workers is less than the normal rule, and this goes not only for Bits but also for civilian -workers. iolthou?h at least two work-free Sundays per month are granted to them on paper, this rule is not adhered to in practice; frequently there is only one holiday per month, although other main holdlay s such as :.:aster, Christmas, iiew Year are usually ob- served. The average work-month is therefore longer in Jachymov than is the rule; it can be set at 28 to 29 days, making an average work-year of roughly 335 to 345 days. Vacations do not influence the work time because a worker going on leave (or falling sick) will be replaced by another one, 3) The above-mentioned yield figure for ore of 100 buckets per shift is a good average; i.e. it is reached only after the yield has been high over a relatively long period of shifts. 4) Part of the yielded ere is streaked with dead rock and goes as such into the ore buckets. in. The ore mined at,vornost is pitchblende ore; nothing; else is mimed there and there are no ter--products. The Svornost ore occurs in two main qualities: 1) A very har(A, very black quality which is found mainly in the loner Svornost levels from the Second Level on downs but also occurs in smaller quantities in the upper levels, it looks like very black coal.. Because of its hardness it does not react when scraped with metal, Hewers and Russian control personnel frequently test black material found there by scraping it with metal; if, after the scraping, a white trace appears, it is thrown with the dead 50X1-HUM rook; if no trace appears, it is considered to be good ore. The harder this kind of ore is, the better its quality. Pieces of this hard ore of average fist size have been frequently estimated by the miners to weigh 700 to 800 ,.Trams (European), 2) The ore mainly found on Barbara, Daniel and Stollort Levels is of much softer quality, often loamy and crumbly. It is also a black color but usually interspersed with yellow streaks. This ore too is considered to be good quality, though not as good as the other- 50X1 -HUM The ore throughout Svornost occurs in veins with thicknesses varying from the thickness of a postcard to about three centimeters, greater thickness have occasionally been found there; the maximum thick- ness have occasionally boon found there; the maximum thickness was In- dicated by such miners as having been 30 cm, The veins very seldom run in a horizontal direction; they are most frequently imbedded Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/12 : CIA-RDP82-00457R004600600004-5 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/12 : CIA-RDP82-00457R004600600004-5 C__1; T: A 7i3T'.u.i1C711C ttQ. CY 7a obliquely (dia,;onally), less frequently in vortical positions? n? First picking or oortin. - of th? ore takes place L.t the spot nhere it is found before it is put into the ore buckets? This rough sorting serves the purpose of separating it from dead rock? After the ore is put into the buckets, the name of the hewer and the place where it was found are inscribed with chalk on the buckets and it is hauled above ground. The buckets are carried by hand from the haul- ing cage to the ore cellar in the machine shop, where the second sorting takes place. This sorting is done b7 7a crew usually consist- 7n, of 10 women and 3 i`',e's or civilians. It is done by a e, and the ore is separated into three categories (good, medium, bad). The graded ore is then packed into wooden boxes 30 by 30 by 30 centimeters with the grade stamped on them, loaded on ten-ton Tatra trucks, and trans- ported to Bratrstvi? All ore obtained in the entire Jachymov project, including ore coming; frcm the washeries described below, goes to Bratrstvi for final sorting in a central sorting plant and for shiupini. (There is one possible exception to this The final sorting at ratrstvi is done by sorting apparatus After the final sorting, the ore is emptied into each pail is inscribed with a letter and a number, the letter indicating the final determination of quality and the number being a serial number. After a sufficient quantity of pails is accumulated at Bratrstvi, they are loaded, on Tatra trunks and hauled (always by truck, never by train) to Ostrov, From Ostrov the ore goes by freight trains to Brest- Litovsk .There it is reloaded on Russian-gauge trains. That the ore or at least part of it) boos to Brest-Litovsk is common knowled'e cylindrical tin pails of about 30 cm diameter and about 30 cm height: in Jachymov ps;d ' s were ordered to help in reloadins- of a train as described above. They inadvertently broke one of the pails (which are welded) and found that it contained the ore which they met again in Jachymov not long afterward. The kind of inscriptions on the pails as also the same. a. The instrument used by the hevrer is a compiles ;ed-air drilling machine with a body (machine) length of about 80 cm, Cutter rods with lengths varying between one and three meters, all having the same diameter of 40 mm, can be inserted into it. The machine has a support which can be regulated by air? pressure to prevent sagging when the drill is brought into an elevated position. The cutter rods are made of tjidia steel (stands for UWie Uiamant" meaning hard as diamond", a tungsten- carbide fabricated by Krupp). Drilling at Svornost is wet drilling, rater is led into the cutter which washes out the drill mud. Air pressure applied in, 6 a`in, it addition to this standard Knstrument, there is the distance drill to be used for ver hard rock. as mer. above; it is made of a special steel Motors used at Svo?anost come mostly from the Skoda and Bata works. ,lectric switches, distribution tables, and cable: are cf AEG as well as Siemens origin. The signal installations come from CKD. The conveyor belts used at Svornost as well as Upravna (see below) come from Russia; the same is true of the electric battery locomotives operating above ground. The electric locomotives working underground are Czech machines which were originally produced for export to Russia but v ere kept in Jachymov? The explosive for blasting, Donarit, a yellow gelatin mass enveloped in oil paper, is used in cartridges of about 15 cm length and a diameter of about 38 ram, After several cartridges are inserted into the drill hole, they are exploded tar means of a blasting cap affixed to a cartridge in the middle of the others., end a firing- cord of black color burning at a speed of slightly more than one cm per second. Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/12 : CIA-RDP82-00457R004600600004-5 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/12 : CIA-RDP82-00457R004600600004-5 = ,'MUM INTiILIGI: NOL I,GUICY Neither P,v nor civilian tiorkors have any protective clothing against radioactivity. Rubber suits are issued to thosd workers who have to work in particularly wet places. The miners near helmets made of either leather or bakelit Pit lamps provided the miners are made in CSR. A radiometric (or, as it is called in dachymov, a geological) team is attached to each shift, its size varying from two to ten members; a limited number of women are employed in these -teams. The teams work with three sorts of radiometric instruments: 1) An aluminum case in the form of a rod about 60 cm in length and 4 cm in diameter? The rod has a plug for an earphone cop." nection. Inside the rod are a batter, and a counter, 2) Same as above with a rod length of about 80 cm and the same diameter. In this dase the battery is worn in a box suspended across the chest, 4) In operation, the rods are passed over the rocks in all directions, very close to, but w._thout touching them, If a click or crackling sound is recorded the spot is marked with white oil paint. 4'+ith none of the mentioned instruments is it possible to determine the quantity, qua.~.ity, or. distance of the radio-active arterial discovered. (tor other radiometric equipment used at Upravria and in protecting, see below). latter part contains une . 3) Same as in (2) with the following difference: Length of the rod is about one peter and the same diameter, while another rod 30 cm in length and 4 cm in diameter is affixed in a T.form across the top of the first one, in this case the t0 There are no turning platforms on any of the Svornost levels but only tin iron sheets of about 3 cra thickness on which the wagon traffic is maneuvered by hand. Ventilation throughout Svornost shaft Is very bad with the exception of the Twelfth Levels where it is satisfactory. ur, Ilear the vornost rock heap there is a new shaft under (inn nmyninti nn This is actually an old shaft which is been deepened. in February 1949, this shaft had reached a depth 50X1-HUM o about 300 in, will be connected to gvornost shaft. This new shaft will be exwlusivel;T for transporting; crews and hauling in mater .al, Svornost shaft will then only be used for hauling out dead rock and ore, because it would not be possible to perform all hauling operations at Svornost after the two connecting; passages to Bratrstvi are completed and part of the Rratrs tv5. haulin is transferred to gvornost, maims W(Ir sha D9. The Elias and Irene shafts, on the east side of the forest path leading from Gottesgab south, and tho ore oashery Upravna on its west side ford one complex covering about 1 square km, fenced in with barbed wire and illuminated at night. At the southeast corner of the complex is a FI camp lodging the Gerd., Pad a s working there? Between the camp and the path is an old rock heap containing the vastermate ial from 50X1-HUM Elias and Irene from the time when they were exploited for silver rather than pitchblende ore. This rock heap is the dump from which Upravna draws its raw material. The two shafts are close together on the same side cf the path and surrounded by an old machine shop, a new machine shop under construction, an office building, and storage facilities, on the other side of the path is a new rock heap 0,rhere the dead rock from the 50X1-HUM present opperation of the shafts is dumped. Beyond it lies another old rock 50X1-HUM heap a originating in pre.pitchblend tines and not yet being exploited (as of February 1949). Another now rock heap situated closer to Upravna, 50X1-HUM receives the waste torial left after the processing of are at Upravna. Upravna is located in the northtbost corner of the complex to ether with a tiler room and a transformer station. 50X1-HUM aE9RtT Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/12 : CIA-RDP82-00457R004600600004-5 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/12 : CIA-RDP82-00457R004600600004-5 94 t4. :,1?aa, an old shaft about 150 m in depth, does not have a hauling frar ; C.iLUTRAL III ~ .i IGi C:: _.GiLNCY because it is not vertical but oblique. The crews descend into and leave the shaft by ladders. Dead rock and ore are loaded into wacr.s inside the shaft and moved by hand to special mine cars into which the 50X1-HUM material is loaded. The special mine cars are then drawn above ground by a cable winch driven by an electronotor and empty their contents there automatically. The shaft is operated in three shifts. The average shift yield of dead rock is about 100 wagons of 0.75 cubic mater volume each, i.e, each holding between 1500 and 2000 pounds of not rock (yield Elias is considered to be a shaft of medium yieldb 50X1-HUM The shaft is very wets and because of its slanting position., the houl' ing in this shaft is complicated. It is therefore planned that the Elias hauling be taken over by Irene, once this latter shaft is completed, b. Irene., thus called in honor of a Russian woman geologist Irene von Tannenbaum., who worked in Jachymov 50X1-HUM was an old dead shaft which was re-opened under the postwar Jachymov minim, project, In February 1949 it was about 90 m deep and was being deepened further. Under the present Jachymov mining projects Irene is scheduled to be provided with the same hauling frame and machinery as vornost (see above). It has now (6optembor 1947 to February 1949) a temporary old hauling frame. Parts of the new hauling, frame and machinery arrived in October 1948 but by February 1949 they were not yet complete. co The crews working in Elias and Irene amount to a total of 550 Pt'J's and 200 civilians of Czech, Russian, and German origin, Of these 750 persons, about two-thirds are working above ground and one third underground. About 15 of them are women who are occupied above gr ound. The proportion of the above ground crews is ral~itively high because many of them are 50X1-HUM working on the old rock heap in connection with its exploitation through Upravna, This ore washery (and another smaller one at'Bratrstvi and possibly one more at 8lavkov.see below) is the only place in the entire Jachymov mining project where ore is actually dressed. That jeans that in the Jachymov project only tY..at ore is dressed which cones from old rock heaps originating in the days when pitchblende was considered to be wastw rterial. All Jachymov ore hauled from underground is only picked and sorted there and at Pratrstvi and is shipped to Russia in this state. in February 50X1-HUM only ore from the old rock heap near the Pad camp in the ul3as- irene-Upravna complex had been dressed in Upravna, but it was planned that Upravna should later take on ore for dressing from the other old rock heap 50X1-HUM in the same complex., and from rock heaps attached to other shafts throughout the Jachymov project. The old rock heap cs in a cavity., reaching a height 50X1-HUM of .35 to 40 m from its deepest point? Roug y speaking it has a width of 175 to 200 m and a horizontal depth (sic) of about 400 m (these dimensions which strictly would only apply to a regTular body are meant to give an approximate idea of its volume). Parts of it are covered with mss, plants, 50X1-HUM and small trees? Its main body is dead rock with crumbs of ore in it. The old rock heap scheduled to be exploited in the future by Upravna separated from the first one by the forest path., and the now rock heap 50X1-HUM are of lesser dimensions, having about one third of the volume of the first one, a. The total area covered by Upravna,, its auxili.3.ry bui.ldings,and transport installations is about 500 by 500 in, The rain Upravna building has four floors and is about 50 m long and 48 m wide. It is built into the side J-._.__'1_.2_... ..,._ ,_s" 50X1-HUM J f ^ h;" ': n.. '" t o he other efore one oor reac eyon so that its upright projection resembles a reversed stair case Ore coming from the rock heap reaches the fourth floor first, figure as of February 1949), The yield of ore is unknaan The first floor contains 51 vibrator tables, office rooms., and, in a wall 50X1-HUM recess.,, an electric distribution board serving all floors. On the second floor are 53. more vibrator tables,, 2 ball mills, and 2 screening tables, The third floor has 2 roller mills and a small laboratory. The fourth floor contains a stone-crushing machine, a sifting screen, a fitter's shop, a turner's shop, an electric wwor'kshop, and a supply room. Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/12 : CIA-RDP82-00457R004600600004-5 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/12 : CIA-RDP82-00457R004600600004-5 SECzT CENTRAL I ( ,LIGLNCE AGINCY l0- b. ;mterial obtained from the old rock heap_is put on a lattice which 50X1-HUM sorts out the biggest pieces. These large pieces are examined there with counters. Those large pieces which are good are pac~-ed in wooden boxes and transferred to Bratrstvi; t1': worthless large pieces are dumped onto one of the new took heaps as waste material. 50X1-HUM The fine material which has now been separated from the biggest pieces, is transported from the old rock heap =to a sorting station located 50X1-HUM opposite the rock heap on the other side of the forest path. The trans- port is made by two conveyor belts in succession, the material falling from the first bolt onto the second, which is a little lower. The total length of the two belts together is about 300 n. Reaching the sorting station, the material falls into a drum about 5 m in length and about 80 cm in diameter. The drum is provided with holes of different sizes varying; in diameter-size from 2 to 8 cm. When the drum revolves, some pieces fall through the holes and those .jhich~are too big remain-in the drum. These latter pieces fall from the drum onto two slow-moving, parallel conveyor belts which pass through a control station. There a team of two or three geologists examineihe pieces with counters while they are slowly passing. Pieces which do not react are left on the belts and pass on to the new rock heap 0 where they are dumped. Those which 50X1-HUM react are removed by hand, dumped into wooden boxes which, when filled, are'shipped to Bratrstvi. This procedure again eleminates pieces exceeding a certain size. All the other pieces, having fallen through the holes of the revolving drum into a fuel, are carried on small conveyor belts into wagons. The loaded wagons, each accompanied by a man, pass on to a two-wall control station (different from and next to the one mentioned above). This station consists of two walls of either sheet iron or aluminum facing each other across a distance 50X1-HUM of about cm. a approximate mensions of the walls are; height 80 cm., length 1 in, thickness 4 cm. Behind one of the walls a clogist - metric operator) is seated at a table on which there i 50X1-HUM an ammeter and various lamps (sic: these "lamps" may be vacuum 50X1-HUM tubes). The' loaded mine car and the an accompanying it remain between the two walls about 15 seconds. During this time the geologist determines the radioactive quality of the contents of the car as a whole by consulting the reaction of the electrical instrument and the lamps., He then assigns a number to the car, which he communicates to the man accompanying it and which he enters in a record. All passing cars are thus divided into three different grades. Having passed the station, the mine car is emptied on one of three dumps according to the number assigned to it. The material-put on the two dumps representing the better qualities is packed in wooden boxes and transferred to Bratratvi. Only the lowest quality material is loaded onto two successive conveyor belts of a total length of about 370 m. These belts carry it uphill to the main Upravna building for processing there. c, From the last belt the material falls into a bin with a base of 3 to 4 meters square and a height of 7 to 8 meters. By means of a slide which can be automatically opened at the base of the bin., the material falls onto a conveyor belt, which runs from the base of the bin to a jig screen on the fourth floor of the Upravna building where it is sprinkled with water coming from pierced pipes above the jig screen. The water washes mud and very small pieces out of the material, and this watery mud is led through pipe connections directly to the pebble mills on the second floor. The jig screen separates the remaining substance into fine and rough material. The fine material is led into the roller mills on the third floor by belt conveyors. The rought material is carried by belt to the stone-crushing machine on the fourth floors where it is crushed and then carried to the rolling mills. There the material is crushed again between two rollers and again sprinkled with water. Under each rolling mill is a funnel into which the crushed and muddy material falls from the mills., and from there it drops to a belt passing underneath the funnels. The belt moves over three iron-plate bins, each provided with a stripping device (sic) with which the material is stripped from the belt into the bins, from which it is conveyed to the pebble mills on the second. floor, finally Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/12 : CIA-RDP82-00457R004600600004-5 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/12 : CIA-RDP82-00457R004600600004-5 CINTRALeINTLLLIGENCE AGENCY - it - 6. The hauling frame and machine shop of Bratrstvi are underground. The entrance to the shaft runs horizontally. Trucks are able to approach the hauling frame. 7. Bore holes in the Jachymov area are dug?with boring bare of about 12 cm diameter SECRET Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/12 : CIA-RDP82-00457R004600600004-5 reaching the processing stage of the watery mud led there directly from the jig screen on the fourth floor. Each pebble mill has a body length of 405 and a diameter of 3.5 m. The mills are half filled with loose steel balls of sizes varying from 3 to 6 cm in diameter. While the mills revolve slowly, crushing the material again, water is led into then. The processed material is piped to the two screening tables, also on the second floor, where it is again screened into a fine and a rougher type. The rougher type is pumped back into the pebble mills and processed again until it reaches a sufficiently fine stage. This fine material is led through trough conveyors to the individual vibrator tables on the second and first floors. Each table consists of a wooden board topped with a cement coating 2.5 m in length and 1 m in width. The board is supported on each end by a group of 4 lamellas of oak wood 80 cm high which stand on another board. Under- neath the upper board is a strong spring stretched diagonally down to the lower one. The cement coating has a series of horizontal grooves lying close to each other. Each table has a motor attached to it which when in operation shakes it0 Through the combined action of the motor,, the elastic oak lammellas, and the spring, the table is made to vibrate lengthwise back and forth, then the watery ore mud enters one end of the table, the vibration exerts a separating effect on it. The lightest parts of it pass over the grooves and flow.off the table. Heavier parts settle in the grooves and are carried across part of the table before they flow off. Only the heaviest parts reach the end of the table as a fine, sandlike streak of watery ore. Only this last part is caught in open ore buckets., while all the rest is dumped into a mud basin outside the building as waste material. The open buckets containing the heaviest concentrate are brought into a drying station near the building and the ore is dried over an open fire. This a drying system was to be improved., and by February 1949.,- two electric 50X1-HUM staves of CSR make had arrived for this purpose beat were not yet in operation, After drying, the ore is put into buckets which can be closed,, loaded on trucks and transported to Bratrstvi for further shipment to Russia. The result of this dressing is a concentrate of 8 per cent. anforment was unable to state whether this means the concentrated ore con- tains 8 per cent uranium?) d0 Power supply for Upravna (as well as Elias and Irene) comas from the pre- viously mentioned 22,000 V line, which enters the Elias-Irene-Upravna complex at its southeast corner near the Pt7 camp, and leads to'the Upravna transformer station. It is there transformed by two oil trans- formers of 800 and 500 M, respectively. Water supply for Upravna is pumped from nearby brooks . e. Upravna works in three eight-hour shifts. The crew of one shift con- sists of 80 PtiW's, 30 civilian women mostly of Czech and German origin and 30 to 40 male civilians of the same nationalities. On an average 200 mine cars (of the 0.75 cubic m type) filled with material from the old rock heap =are processed by one Upravna shift. The yield quota 50X1-HUM as ordered by Russian authorities is uniformly 50 kg of concentrate in its wet (undried) condition per vibrator table and per shift. This quota cannot be fulfilled because the yield depends on the quality of the arriving material. The actual yield of wet concentrate of 8 per cent varies from 20 to 40 kg per vibrator table and per shift. As mentioned above, there is also an ore washery attached to Bratrstvi. The vibrator table system there consists of one series of32 tables and another of 24 tables. The better quality material which is sorted out from the Elias- Irene rock heap, in the way described in paragraph 4, and shipped to Bratrstvi., is subjected there to the same concentrating process As the smaller,, lower quality material in Upravna. The yield figurss are unknown Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/12 : CIA-RDP82-00457R004600600004-5 bUA] -h u IVI ItGI CENTRAL(INTELLIG NCE AGENCY y 12 - which are threaded together? Radiometric investigation of these holes is done with aluminum cases of the kind mentioned above, but of smaller length than those used inside the shafts and galleries. The case is suspended on a rubber cable which is uncoiled from a drum and slowly lowered into the hole. 8, The entire Jachyiov mining project is under mixed Russian-oCzech administration, with the Russians exerting the highest authority. One of the highest Russian administrators there is Engineer Usherov, allegedly holding the rank of Colonel. A Russian named Morisov, allegedly a general, is in charge of all German PW's working there. The name of the commander of the PtJ camp for those PW's who work in shops., messes, etc., and not in shafts., is Alexander. The administra- tive headquarters of the entire Jachymov project is located in an old tobacco factory (Tabakovka), situated in the northeast end of the city(see sketch ;$l). The Tabakovka complex, consisting of the min Tabakovka building and a number of other buildings such as repair shops for machines and vehicles, workshops., warehouses, etc. for the entire Jachymov area, is fenced in by barbed wires and guarded, The main building has 4 stories. The top floor is reserved for residences of Russian personnel; the other floors contain offices and a central laboratory consisting of several rooms. The rail line from Jachymov to Ostrov starts within the Tabakovka complea~ 9. A central storage house for the entire Jachymov project is looted about 5 km from Jachymov in the direction of Ostrov in a place called Horny Brand on the railroad to Ostrov. Bigger parts., such as pipes, machines, and machine parts., etc.., are stored there. 10. The entire Jacbymov area is a controlled area. People entering or leaving it need special passes. Each shaft area is fenced off by wooden or barbed wire fences or both. Entrances and exits belonging to shaft areas are per- manently guarded by Czech civilian mine police armed with pistols and carbines. The chief of this police, a Slovak by the name of Korima, is under Russian orders? Everyone passing through a shaft area entrance or exit has to produce a special pass. Throughout the entire mining area, the SUB police undertakes frequent control drives with cars and motorcycles; the same is done in the streets of Jachymov and the adjoining towns. On the streets of the city and outside the city throughout the mining area,, frequent spot checks are carried out by the SUB with the aid of counters in order to determine whether or not ore has been removed from the shaft areas. The same is done from time to time in the residences of all mixers. PV camps are searched with the aid of counters about once in three months. All ore transports within the mining area are accompanied by civilian armed guards consisting mostly of Russians. Railroad ore transports are guarded by Russian soldiery and officers. Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/12 : CIA-RDP82-00457R004600600004-5