Brown coal opencast pit Inden
The opencast pit Inden of the RWE Power AG is situated near Inden, between Eschweiler and Jülich, in the Rhenish brown coal field. The annual mining of ca. 23 Millionen tons of brown coal are used to feed the power plant Weisweiler. The coal beds are 45 metres strong and lay up to 230 metres deep underneath the earth's surface. 1,6 billion cubic-metre colliery waste have to be moved to win the 510 million tons of coal, which are still in the working area. This is done with the help of bucket-wheel excavators.
The accumulating colliery waste is being heaped up on the opposite side. This way the landscape is being re-cultivated. After the excavation the 'Indesche Lake' will have been created there. Due to the extensive mining even villages had to be completely cleared moved. removed somewhere else. The inhabitants left their belongings there. They were resettled.
850 people work for the opencast mining Inden. Its brown coal reserves are 0,7 billion tons.