EVA URANIUM MINE AT JACHYMOV

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00810A006800130008-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 29, 2008
• Sequence Number: 8
• Publication Date: May 12, 1955
• Content Type: REPORT

INFORMATION REPORT INFORMATION
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
This material (contains information affecting the National Defense of the United states within the meaning of the Espionage Laws, Title
18, U.S.C. Secs. 793 and 794, the transmission or revelation of which in any manner to an unauthorized person is prohibited by law.
COUNTRY Ceechos :oovaakia
SUBJECT Eva Uranium Mine at Jachymov
PLACE ACQUIRED
REPORT(
DATE DISTR. 12 May 1955
NO. OF PAGES 10
REQUIREMENT NO. RD
REFERENCES
This is UNEVALUATED
Information _ _ .
1. Lo
The Eva mine at Jachymov was located about 300 meters west of the road leading
from Lipa,to Bosi Dar (N 51/K 61) about 600 meters northwest of the cross-
roads on the Mariaeorg (N 51/K 60) - Lipa - Bosi Dar roads. The area of the
mine was about 700 meters long and 500 motors widen fenced with a double barbed-
wire fence forming a guarded belt about three meters wide. The space between
the two rows of barbed wire was sprinkled with white sand and was well lit at
night. The fence itself was about three meters high, There were woods around
the whole pit area. The free mpl eee came by bus and entered the area by a
gate on the vest side; while the prisoners went in by a gate on the south tide.
2. Inter or of the mike
a. The mine had eight levels in all about 50 motors apart. The eighth level
was finished in spring 1954. As an older mine, Elva used the points of the
compass as names for the main corridors, instead of using the names of the
veins. As a contrary l0, the Eduard mine had tunnels called Svycar,
Fiedler, Mala Drasna9 etc, a
be Above the first level, at a depth of 25 meters, there was an old level called
f a
r
t
d
-
co
o
e
" a gallery, a relic of earlier time when the In mine consis
ridor, No work was being done on this level, and prisoners had no access to
it for security reasons,
by many workers, since not enough pitchblende was
st level was manned
fi
Th
,
r
e
o,
.found there. In autumn 1959p a new corridor about 400 meters long was opened
and new veins were found, but actual mining had not started as of May 1954,
and only about 10 people, free workers only, worked here, Mining was expect-
ed to start at the beginning of 1955,
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INFORMATION REPORT INFORMATION REPOR
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d. The second level was rich in ore and pitchblende. Only,.prisoners worked
here, 40 to a shift. The level had four main corridors, north, south,
West, and east. The eastern corridor was dug in April'l954 by a shock
team of prisoners who reached an output of 600 meters in one month. Work
had stopped in the western corridor and the face alongside it because of
lack of ore and a considerable flow of water. Only the north and south
corridors were being worked. The workings of the northern corridor were
marked 3Av II-O0 up to 15o Workings 3Av?II?00, M. and 15 were rich in
pitchblende of the type called "black, shiny stoney. The in'ormant, who
worked in 3Av-II?00 and 01, states that because of.a very rich ore deposit
there he sometimes reached 180% of his norm. Ore was found in working
3Av-II-11. The other workings yielded very little ore or pitchblende.
The south-corridor workings were marked JAv-II-* is 15. Ore was found on
working 009 and pitchblende on 03, 04, and 05. The yield on the other
works was very small.
e. The third level was divided up like the second level, and the yield of are
was the same. The numbering of the workings was the same except that the
Roman figure was changed to III. About 30 prisoners and 20 civilians worked
on this level.
f. The fourth and fifth levels were excavated according to a new mining method
whereby the corridors had a prescribed shape 270 x 250 centimeters and had
a double-rail track, on which ran mine engines for carting away nonradio-
active material. There were stations for charging the engine storage bat-
teries. These levels were the richest in pitchblende and ore.
g. The sixth level had a similar yield of'ore and pitchblende to levels four
and five, but was insufficiently equipped on the technical Bide. The care
removing the ore were operated by hand, and loading stations and technical
fittings were only under construction as of spring 1954,
h. The seventh level was finished at the end of 1952. Preliminary work for
mining did not start until the spring of 1953. At the beginning of 1954,
the preparatory work was finished, and real mining work began, but little
had been done as of the spring of 1954.
i. The eighth level, finished in the spring of 1954, consisted for the time
being of a corridor about 300 motors long only. No mining was being done
hers, since the preliminary work was to take at least a year. Immediately
after the eighth level had been made, excavation of a ninth level was
started, and it was anticipated that it would be finished in 1955.
~. All levels had a proscribed quota of ore, consisting of two trunks, contents
0,75 cubic meters, per shift. Pitchblende itself was not included in this
quota, but came under the plan. The average yield for one shift was 60 -
100 kg, per level, this being the quota for levels with a fair yield of ore
and pitchblende. In the Era mine, this quota did not apply to the first,
seventh, and eighth levels,
Mining output and methods
Only six hours1actual mizdng was done per shift, the rest of the time being oc-
cupied in such activities as clearing. On all the levels the working Cycle was
finished at the same time$ so that there was always a shortage of oars at these
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Class six included assistant face workers., joiners, masons., mechanics, and
electricians. Class seven consisted of skilled miners and expert joinersp
masons, electricians, and mechanics, The eighth class included the best
shockworkers, excavators in tunnels., and free workers employed as face work-
ers who had a "blasting certificate" (meaning that the worker was allowed to
do blasting himself and had passed blasting tests), and blasting foremen.
Pay was so arranged that when the norm was fulfilled 100%. each worker re-
ceived. his fixed hourly wage with bonus and efficiency supplements, the latter
being dependent on fulfillment of the plan in meters and in ore but not depen-
dent on the accomplishment of other workers, each worker being paid separately.
As far as possible, prisoners were paid according to state regulations. Their
bonuses were reduced to the minimum, those which were not paid going into the
head overseer's pocket, This machination was carried out by transferring a
certain part of the prisoners? pay to a financial fund from which purchases of
things needed for the pit were made when the budget was exceeded. The over-
seer was in charge of the material for his individual level and always re-
corded an outlay of more than he really gave out, the difference, with which
he should have bought working materials, going into his own pocket, This was
therefore a "black" fund which the overseer used simply to enrich himself,
6, Norms
The norms in force dated from 1951, when they had been stiffened. The norms
for corridor-making were from 40 to 50 am, per man per shifts depending on. the
hardness of the rocks keeping a shape 270 x 250 cm, Shook teams had what was
called a complex norm, counting the output of the whole team and not of individ-
uals. This norm included timbering, laying rails, and carting away materials
types of work which were not included in the ordinary norms where each job had
its own norm and was paid separately. With a complex norm, the norm for pro-
gress in cutting was lowered because of the other types of work carried out.
The complex norm was harder since a face cutter must cover meters for the whole
team in order that the same output could be attained with a complex norm as that
reached by individual workers working the ordinary norms. The face cutter was
responsible for the earnings of the whole gang and was thus forced to a higher
output of works which was a financial saving for the mine administration by com-
parison with ordinary norms, The complex norm had been in existence since 1951,
but the mine had only had it in force since the middle of 1953. There were cer-
tain advantages connected with the complex norm offered by the mine administration
to the tsar operating it, The team was issued now mechanical equipment and tools,
mining clothes, and rubber bootsmand had the assurance that it would remain in
its ass working and not be transferred elsewhere, (A practice existed in the
Jaohymev mines whereby a prisoner was transferred to a working where a free face
worker was doing the cutting but not clearing the working. This work must be
done by the prisoner without his being paid for its and in addition, he had to
keep up the norm for face cutting, which was almost impossible, Prisoners would
get the section in orders and when it was possible to work it normally again,
they were transferred by the mine authorities to another workings also in a bad
state, the section which had been cleared being given to free workers), Workers
cutting the ends of corridors and partitions between them had a norm of 35-40
cm. per man per shifts keeping a triangular shape, the height being 220 cm. and
the bass 130 cm. The norms fora workings were set by the square meter; 2.2 square
meters were reckoned per man per shift. These square meters were estimated on
the depth of the workings the width of the corridor being arbitrary and not ac-
counted for in the pay, According to mine regulations, the minimum width for a
corridor was 80 cm, The width of the corridor depended on the skill of the face
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cutter and his ability in drilling and blasting. The broader the-face.. the
more unpaid work there was clearing away the rock. The-presdkibed height for
the working was from 220 to 350,.cm.,, and the.height'which was cut was counted
and.,pa d-'for in the surface covered. It was more advantageous for the i ce_
cutter t& hake the working higher to fulfill the norm., in spite of the fact
that the mile authorities did not like this for safety reasons, since it was
then more probable that the corridor would cave in. The method of. reckoning
norms by the square meter took no account of the hardness of the rock and was
the. same for all sections, so that in soft rock it was of course fulfilled more
easily than in hard rock. The complex norm in the workings differed from the
norms for tunnels in that in tunnels the face cutter did all the work., timber-
ng., rail-laying., etc.., alone., or more exactly, with one assistant., since there
were two people in the working, but the norm remained 2.2 square meters, Miners
in the workings had the same advantages as those working in the tunnels. In
addition to the norms counted by meters,. there were norms for ore in the work-
ings,"which,however,were counted and paid separately and it was common for a
miner'to fail to fulfill the norm in meters, but to increase his earnings by
fulfilling the norm in output of ore; thus he might fulfill the norm in meters
by 80% and the norm in ore by 1006, reaching a fairly high rate of earnings.
Mechanical edu,parn, nt
a, ThertaZ king of.. the mine was old-fashioned, for ore was mined from the. var-
ious levels by means of trucks'and cages, On the surface, there was one
engine run on:-crude oil on the slag heap. This engine did half the work;
the rest was done by hand, On the first, second, and third levels, the
removal of dead material was not mechanized. These levels had equipment
only in the working itself; i.e., pneumatic drill hammers, drill rests.,,
autcmatic'pioke, drill shafts and drill heads,,and apparatus-for air and
water circulation and ventilation,
Latterly, the Soviets were introducing Soviet mining methods, and the mine
was also using Soviet pneumatic hammers called "telescopes" which differed
from the Czech types from Vitkovice& in that the drill hammer and the rest
were made in one,, These "telescopes" were used for vertical drilliqg of
roofs only, workings where there was no are. They drill the whole t'soe-,of.
the roof to a distance of 50 m. (up to 200 holes 150 am. long) and etrer;
thing is burned away at once, Removal of rook and levelling is aoc iplifhed
by means of pneumatic rakes, The "telescopes" are massively oonoeiyed, with
more revolutions than the Czechoslovak pneumatic hammers. They alda,have a
larger stroke, and the flow of water to cool the drill head is simplified.
From the "telescope" the water goes direct to the drill shaft, by contrast
with 'the Vitkovioe drill, where what is called a "hydraulic head" must be
used. Drilling time is shortened by up to 15 minutes for a two-meter hole,
the Vitkovioe drill taking 20 minutes, the "telescope" 5 minutes.
For horizontal drilling, the Soviets introduced copies of American drills
into the pits. These are heavier$ they weigh about 35 kg ,, and the stroke
impact is 120 kg, They have a high rate of revolution and the speed for
drilling holes is increased about as much as with the "telescope". They
were called aamong the mine employees and were not popular because they
often broke down, They were mainly used in the tunnels,
d. Both the types of Soviet machines mentioned have thick drill shafte,,-oatll`ed 'ia
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Russian h=, about 5 cm, in diameter., six aided, without metal heads and
without screws, For vertical drilling, a set of four of these shafts is
necessary - 50 cm.fl 100 cm .,9 130 cm., and 150 cm.
e. On these levels what was called an "emptying sectionI, consisting of a
shaft 4 x 4 m., was blasted out, connecting all three levels and prepared
for modernizing the working of the min*., ~ltth automatic scoops,
f. The fourth and fifth levels were like tht preceding, bat the removal of
dead rock was mechanized, and electric locomotives drew the trucks with the
rock to the cage, The sixth, seventh, and eighth levels were equipped sim-
ilarly to the first, second, and third levels,
8. Security and safety measures
a. On the surface. The mine was fenced with a double barbed-wire fence about
3.5 m. high, with a column with a searchlight on it every 20 m, and wooden
guard towers 6 m. high, constantly manned, at the corners or along the sides.
On both sides of the double fence there was a guarded zone 3 M. wide, sprin-
kled with white sand and fenced off by a fence 70 am. high. It was marked
with notices with the following inscriptional "Attention; Zone under fire,
Access forbidden to civilians under risk of being fired upon. In the gate-
keeper's posts, members of the StB kept a check on the miners and took their
work passes from them. These passes remained in the gatekeeper's post dur-
ing the shift.
b. In the mine
(1) In order to safeguard the security of the mines, the Administration of
the Jaohymov mines issued a brochure containing safety regulations,
Each new miner was given this pamphlet and after personal instruction
from the security official, he signed a declaration that he had been
informed of the safety rej-alations. If the security official found any
shortcomings when he carried out his daily check, he fined the miner who
had infringed the regulations, The maximum fine was 100 crowns, Work
intended to ensure the miners' safety, which had to be carried out,, ac-
cording to the regulations, was not included in the normal so the miners
had to do it for nothing and as far as possible tried to evade it. Acci-
dents were therefore a daily occurrence. Serious accidents sometimes
involving fatalities occurred on an average of once a month. The mine
administration tried to limit the number of accidents by reprimands and
fines, but it did not pay work carried out to make the pits safe.
(2) On the security side, for the prevention of escapes, the StB kept a daily
check on the mine. Two members patrolled the old galleries to see if any
prisoners were attempting to escape, and at the same time, they looked
for old galleries which had not been mapped out, since most of the plans.
of the old corridors had been lost, The two members of the 3t3 had life
belts, electric torches, and compasses, and their presence effectively
prevented escape by digging through the old pit.
9. Personalities in the manaeement
a. Works engineer (also acted as manager)*
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Odikadse (fnu)n
be Manager of the survey departments
(Lan), Petr fl F
a, Official in charge of shifts
d, Overseer on first and second leveler
114 nsl fnu
e, Overseer on the third levelr
Dufek (fnu) o
h. Overseer on the ei ,"l1
Iisour (fnu) D
i, Overseer on the seventh lev 1Q
pause 3iri,
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~. President of the Works Councils
Slapnicka (fnu)aF-
1.
Comments The reference is presumably to the Vitkovioe
Aement Gottwald Iron Works in Ostrava-Vitkovios.
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Legend to Annex
1. Gatekee er?s post for free employees. A wooden, single-story building about 12
x 6 m. There were always two members of the StB in it and one woman taking in
passes.
2. First-aid post, in a wooden, single-story building about 12 x 6 in, There was al-
ways one nurse here, and the doctor attended every day from 2 pm to 4 pm.
3. Mine administration offices and free workers? cloakrooms, in a wooden single-
story building, 12 x 6 m. There were six offices in all, for overseers and fore-
men.
4. Mechanical and electrical workshops, in a masonry building faced with concrete,
two-storied, 15 in, long and 7 in, wide.
5. Soviet offices, in a two-storied, masonry house, 12 x 12m., a former villa con-
.verted into offices. On the ground floor were the survey department, the office
for payment of wages, and the manager?s (Odikadse?s) office. On the-second floor
were the accounts offices, the departments of geophysics and geology, and a room
for issuing Geiger counters.
6. Pit winder in a masonry building, single-story, 8 x 8 M.
7. Pit ham, concrete construction about 15 m. high.
8. Lam`, store for material, and joiner?s shop, in a wooden single-story build-
ing, about 8 x 15 m,
9. Compressor room, at the foot of the slag heap, a masonry building with no upper
story, about 20 x 7 x 6 m. in size.
10. So t n s for ore, in a wooden, single-story building, 25 x 7 in, The ore was.
only roughly sorted here,
11. Oat keeper?e sa for prisoners, on the south side of the pit area, also a guard
room for members of the St'. A wooden single-story building, 12 x 5 m,
12. Him* cant for civilian employees, standing outside the mine area, about 100 in.
northwest I46 the entrance for free employees, A new wooden, single-story build-
ing, 30 x 15 in.
13, Onar- , around the whole mine area, seven of them in all. Wooden towers,
abouut~igh, covered by a roof. There was one member of the StB armed with
an automatic carbine and at night a light MG, Czech type, on each of them,
14. Am where trees were felled in autumn 1953 and which was prepared for the con.
struction of new mine buildings and workshops, Eve s to be transferred to new
buildings in 1955, becoming a modern mine like Rovnolt or Svornost. Up to \roh
1954, only the materials had been assembled, and no building had been begun.
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