The Svornost (“Concord”) mine, founded in 1518, bears exceptional evidence of the silver and uranium mining of Jáchymov.
Until the mid-19th century, it was one of the main centres of silver, cobalt and bismuth ore mining in Jáchymov. The silver mining period is documented by the two principal and still-functional drainage adits which were driven into the mine during the 16th century: the St. Barbara adit (at a depth of 106 m) and the St. Daniel adit (-148 m). With a length of more than 10 km, the St. Barbara adit represents one of the Europe’s longest drainage adits of that time.t
The Svornost mine was the first mine in the world where uranium ores started being systematically extracted in the mid-19th century as a consequence of the boom in production of uranium-based dyes. The uranium mining era ended in 1964 but the healing radon water is still being pumped from the depth of 500 m and piped to the Jáchymov spa. Between 1992 and 1966, a general restoration of the Svornost mine was conducted. The mine shaft was concreted down to 12th level (500 m underground) and newly fitted with supporting structures. The head frame was replaced by a new one and the engine room of the mine was equipped with a new electric drum hoisting machine. The shaft building still includes parts of the mine buildings dating back to 1922-1924 when the old mine complex was completely rebuilt based on a design of a prominent Czech architect, Milan Babuška. The Svornost mine is connected underground with the nearby Josef shaft, originally a 16th century silver mine. In 2015, the 232 stairs and the fenced corridor connecting the Svornost mine with the nearby infamous concentration camp were restored and replicas of original watch towers were constructed in their vicinity to commemorate the fate of 700 mostly political prisoners who had been detained in the camp and had been forced to work in the Svornost uranium mine in the early 1950s under the Communist regime.
