Puits n° 2, Hénin-Beaumont

The Compagnie des mines de Dourges was a mining company that exploited coal in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais mining basin from 1856, when the No. 2 pit began production. The first work on the No. 1 pit began in 1850, but four years later the shaft threatened to collapse. The No. 2 pit was therefore undertaken, still in Hénin-Beaumont, fifty meters from the swallower. Then the No. 3 pit in Hénin-Beaumont and the No. 4 pit in Noyelles-Godault were successively opened. The pit no 5, in this same town, is a failure. The pits no 6 and 6 bis are then undertaken on two different squares in Hénin-Beaumont and the pit no 7 - 7 bis in Montigny-en-Gohelle. It is at this same period, in the years 1890 - 1900 that the pits no 2, 3 and 4 are equipped with a pit bis.

In 1919, work began on pit no. 8 - 8 bis at Évin-Malmaison with the aim of exploiting the northern part of the concession, then in the early 1930s, the opening of pit no. 9 - 9 bis at Oignies, close to the pits of the Compagnie des mines d'Ostricourt.

In 1946, the Company was nationalized. From then on, pits nos. 2, 2 bis, 3 - 3 bis, 4 - 4 bis, 6, 6 bis and 7 - 7 bis became part of the Hénin-Liétard Group with the pits of the Courrières and Drocourt mining companies, and pits nos. 8 - 8 bis and 9 - 9 bis became part of the Oignies Group with the pits of the Carvin and Ostricourt companies. It is the only company to have seen its pits divided into two groups. This last group opens from 1956 the pit no 10 intended to concentrate the production of the pits in the surroundings.

Mining on the territory of the concession but also in the whole mining basin ceased on December 21, 1990 at pit no. 9 - 9 bis. These pits, as well as those of pits no. 8 - 8 bis and 10, were the last to be backfilled in the concession, and are among the last to have been backfilled in the mining basin. In the 21st century, there are still some remains of the exploitation. In addition to the slagheaps, including Nos. 87 and 92, known as the Hénin East and West washtubs, which can be seen from the A1 freeway and the LGV Nord, the headframe of shaft No. 8 has been preserved, as well as the entire tile of pit No. 9 - 9 bis. On the other hand, only a water tower remains of the modern concentration site No. 10.