Lignite mine
Ten’s million years ago, the central part of Europe was covered by the warm sea. From its bottom, as a result of mountainous movements, islands emerged, followed by land. Over time, a prehistoric tropical forest grew there. Dying trees formed deposits of peat for millions of years, to which the winds and downpours applied layers of sand and silt. In subsequent eras (climatic changes), the moraines of the ice ages added new layers of rock material (sand, clay) and, as a result of pressure forces, dehydrated the peat, which without access to air turned into lignite. The most common lignite in Poland comes from 20 million years ago.
Its rich deposits are located in Wielkopolska, Lubusz Land, and beyond the Oder River in Branderburg and Saxony. In the years 1852 – 1863 there were several mines of this raw material around Moscice. In 1855 the “August” mine, employing 17 workers, extracted 33,868.5 tons of coal worth 3951 thalers. To this day, one can still see the traces of the tracks that transported the excavated material from Moscice to Kamień Wielki. The coal was sold in the surrounding distilleries and oak cloth factory.
This stage of Mościce’s history is reminiscent of pits in the undulating post-glacial landscape in the southern part of the village. After the Second World War, the pits served as a dumping ground for all unnecessary remains of German owners of abandoned homesteads. Later, one of the pits served as an area for sledging and other winter games.