No. 3 pit Sainte-Barbe, Bernissart, Hainaut, Wallonia, Belgiumi

Regional Level Types
No. 3 pit Sainte-Barbe	Colliery (Abandoned)
Bernissart	Municipality
Hainaut	Province
Wallonia	Region
Belgium	Country

A former colliery worked from 1849 until approximately 1880.

A large number (30+) of Iguanodon bernissartensis skeletons were found in 1878 in this mine at a depth of 322 meters.

The mine entrance/shaft is on private property and is covered by a concrete slab.

During WWI, the Germans actively searched for fossilised iguanodon remains. However, the local residents constantly sabotaged the operation by destroying the pumps and deliberately causing the collapse of tunnels.

After 2 years of drilling, the Germans had come close (about 20 metres from the correct depth), but the end of the war forced them to stop.

Out of revenge, the Germans flooded the shaft. It has never been reopened since.

In 2002, drilling was carried out in the 'cran' (as the local miners called the "geological obstruction cutting the coal vein"). Bone fragments of dinosaurs were found at a depth of 300 metres. We now know that the Wealden clay (in which the iguanodons were found) is located at a depth between 240 and 359 metres. However, in 1878, only the area between 322 and 356 metres deep was explored. There is a good chance that this area is still packed with fossils have yet to be discovered.

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