page_title: Saint-Étienne Mine Museum
section_title: 1854–92: The Beaubrun Company
hierarchical_section_title: Saint-Étienne Mine Museum / 1854–92: The Beaubrun Company
caption_attribution_description: Puits Chatelus Saint-Etienne, Fr
context_page_description: The Saint-Étienne Mine Museum is a French museum founded in 1991 in the city of Saint-Étienne in the French department of the Loire situated in the Rhône-Alpes region. The site is registered as a historical monument since 2011.
context_section_description: In 1854 Napoleon III dissolved the monopoly. A small company, the Compagnie des Mines Beaubrun ran the plot consisting of half a dozen old pits, among which the Châtelus pit (founded in 1850 by the Compagnie des Mines de la Loire). It is the result of the two great neighboring companies running two coal veins situated on each sides of the Malacussy underground rift which cuts the plot in two.
  Its capital is partly owned by these powerful neighbors: The S.A. des Mines de la Loire which runs more concessions to the North and the Société Anonyme des Mines de Montrambert and la Béraudière in the South. Both societies were the result of the division of the monopoly and each owned a portion of the capital of the Beaubrun Company.
  In 1857, Clapier Station was inaugurated and the rail workaround of the western part of Saint-Étienne provided new uses for the coal extracted in Beaubrun. A key element that would later make the site the main place of extraction.
  Around 1860, the old Clapier castle was demolished along with the hamlet of Clapier. The Châtelus pit was connected to the old Clapier pit and 5th layer was explored but the digging of a new pit was required. The digging of a new pit named Châtelus 2 started in 1870.
  In 1887, a huge explosion of coal dust in the area between Châtelus 1 and Culatte caused the death of 79 miners. The event made the headlines, the emotion was great and the damage was substantial: the pit was therefore closed.
  On 3 June 1893, the small company was eventually absorbed by the Mines de la Loire, under the influence of Henry Couriot who probably saw development opportunities in the plot strategic position and stocks.
caption: The Châtelus pit in Saint-Étienne in 1880.
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