History of Mining
The Jílové ore region is historically the most important Czech gold mine. The total production is around 10 tonnes with the maximum production in the 14th century.
The interest in gold is as old as mankind itself. The proximity of the Celtic oppidum Lhota-Točná near Zbraslav only confirms the interest of the Celts in gold from Jihlava about 2000 years ago. At that time they probably obtained gold mainly by panning from the Sázava River and local streams.
"In 1335, John the King of Bohemia gave the King of Hungary a beautiful gift, namely a handstan from the mountains of Jihlava, so large and well endowed with druze and gold that it was a wonder. The Hungarians said that such a one had never been heard of in the golden mountains of Hungary, and that he was worth eight thousand Hungarian gold pieces"
V. Hájek - Czech Chronicle, 1541
Deep mining has been confirmed by isolated historical sources since at least the 12th century, but the real boom in gold mining in the Jílové region occurred in the 13th century with a peak around the middle of the century. At that time, the Jílovské mines were the most important gold mines in the territory of the present-day Czech Republic, with workings reaching perpendicular depths of 250 m below the surface (almost 400 m). The mined sections reached lengths of up to 1000 m.
"It is also a credible report that of these golden baths the Old Town of Prague was the greatest work, also the churches, the bridge, the college and the wall above around the town were built."
The Office of the Supreme Mintmaster in the Kingdom of Bohemia, 1559
The most profitable was the Rotlev mine near the town of Jílové, named after its owner Jan Rotlev, who became rich from gold mining in Jílové. Due to technical problems with groundwater and the subsequent Hussite wars, the most productive mines in the Šlojíř vein were flooded and abandoned.
A house with a chamber for a water wheel, which was supposed to transfer the water power of the Sázava River to the Pepř shaft. After the whole project was completed, it was found that the power was insufficient to pump. Photo: archive of the Gold Museum Jílové u Prahy
After the Hussite wars, mining returned to the proven places. One of the most restored sites was the area around Radlík, and then also the mines in the Kocourské zone. In these places it was possible to find relatively rich ore deposits with unique samples of pure gold weighing up to 1 kg, but mining never reached the success of the 14th century. The greatest mining activity took place in the 16th and 18th centuries. In the first half of the 18th century, gold ducats were also minted from gold from Jihlava.
After an unsuccessful attempt to dewater the Pepř mine by means of a water wheel at Žampach, it was decided in 1828 to use the very old Václavská Štěla to dewater the Pepř mine in the southern part of the district. The main objective was to reach the Šlojířská vein. In 1864, after many years of mining in very hard rocks, the Pepř mine was drained and the vein found in the vicinity of Pepř was explored. After 3 years the work was stopped as the explored vein was not profitable. Gold prospecting was then continued mainly by the Černý family in the Bohulibská part of the district.
Mining operations were resumed at the Rotlev and Radlík mines, which, however, proved the recovery of most of the gold reserves in earlier periods. Mining was thus concentrated on the Pepř and Bohuliby mines until 1968, when it ceased.
In the first quarter of the 20th century, Prof. Barvíř discovered a mining map, on the basis of which he discovered the confusion of the Šlojíř vein with the poorer Romano-Roman vein and thus explained the failure of mining in the 19th century. After a long period in which the mines were rather an object of speculation, the state proceeded to gradually open up the whole area, which began in 1939. The Pepř Mine was deepened to the final depth of the 3rd level (about 250 m below the surface) and connected to the New Bohulibská pit, 1 km away from the Pepř shaft.