Virtual Tour of the Gorleben Exploration Mine

DBE informs the public about the Gorleben salt dome exploration work directly at the Gorleben site. More than 75,000 visitors have taken the opportunity for a "surface visit" during the past 17 years. Since 1998, an underground visit of the exploration mine is possible as well.
Your visit will start with a presentation of the project and the exploration results. Afterwards, you will be accompanied by a competent guide on a two-hour underground tour so you can get your own impression on the exploration work. Due to technical reasons, however, these "underground visits" are restricted. Nevertheless, you can always go on a "virtual tour of the mine" during which we provide you with overviews and pan shots of selected locations.

After you have been "driven" to shaft 1, technical experts will assist you in boarding the cage. Together with other visitors or miners you will speed down the shaft at 10 m per second, reaching the exploration level at 840 meters depth in less than two minutes. You can either start the "underground visit" on foot or be driven along the 7 km of roadways in one of the mine vehicles, passing through other levels at depths between 820 m and 930 m. Underground, it is pleasantly warm with temperatures of up to 30 degrees Centigrade all-year.
Occasionally, it can get rather loud: The ventilation systems can be very noisy; furthermore, there is traffic and engine noise from machines and vehicles.
After a short time, your face will be coated with a very thin salt film and you will have a pleasant salty taste on your lips. Unfortunately, the virtual tour cannot show the extent of the mainly horizontal exploration boreholes with lengths of up to 600 m, drilled parallel to the mining operations, and of the scientific survey work.

Even a virtual tour cannot manage entirely without some technical preparation. To be able to see the following interactive pan shots in your browser (Netscape or Microsoft), JavaScript and Java must be activated.

And now let's go on the virtual mini-adventure down the exploration mine in Gorleben!