Podgórze Uranium Mine – Exploration to -230 metres

In November 2024, we returned to one of the most unusual diving sites in Poland — the flooded underground workings of the former Podgórze uranium mine in Kowary. The objective was very different from our usual cave exploration projects. Instead of following passages shaped by water over thousands of years, we were entering a man-made underground system that had been abandoned and flooded for decades.

Below the already explored levels of the mine, large sections remained completely unknown to divers.

Our goal was to find out what was still there.

A return to Podgórze

The November project was a continuation of dives carried out in August 2024, when we had managed to explore several dozen metres of a flooded mining level at approximately 150 metres depth from Shaft No. 2, which serves as the main diving entrance. For the next expedition, planned between 8 and 11 November, we focused on Shaft No. 3 — a much deeper vertical shaft extending beyond 230 metres. The plan was ambitious:

check whether Shaft No. 3 was passable all the way down,
locate and investigate the entrances to the mining levels at approximately 150, 190 and 230 metres,
and, if possible, reach the bottom of the shaft.

Our three-person diving team consisted of Tomasz Wciórka, Mariusz Banaszak and myself, Bartłomiej Pitala. The dives were carried out at the invitation of Paweł Myśliński and the owners of the mine.

Into Shaft No. 3

Exploring a flooded mine is very different from exploring a natural cave. The geometry may be man-made, but after decades underwater the environment is far from predictable. Old cables, pipes, timber, ropes and collapsed structures can all become serious hazards, particularly when using DPVs and carrying large amounts of equipment.

During the first dives, Tomasz and Mariusz focused on the 150-metre level. They managed to locate and clear the entrance from Shaft No. 3 and continued for several metres into the flooded workings. The passage did not remain open for long - their exploration ended at a closed steel gate blocking the corridor. The level continued beyond it, but there was no safe way through.

The 190-metre level

My next objective was deeper. Descending Shaft No. 3, I located the entrance to the mining level at approximately -190 metres underwater. Once again, the route was blocked. This time the entire entrance had been sealed with wooden planks. The level existed behind them, but forcing an entry in such conditions was not an option. I continued farther down.

Towards the 230-metre level

The next target was the deepest known mining level, approximately 230 metres below the surface. As I descended, I eventually reached its approximate elevation and located what appeared to be the entrance. But another obstacle was waiting. A large bundle of old climbing rope was hanging freely inside the shaft, directly in the route towards the level. At this depth, becoming entangled in old rope while carrying rebreathers, bailout cylinders and other equipment was simply not an acceptable risk.

I stopped the descent at -227 metres. The entrance to the deepest level was there, but reaching it safely would require another approach.

-227 metres

The deepest dive of the project lasted approximately five hours. At 226 metres, I was deeper underwater than anyone during any previous dive carried out in Poland.

But reaching maximum depth was only a small part of the operation. The long decompression that followed was supported by Tomasz and Mariusz, who met me underwater according to the previously prepared plan and remained with me during the ascent. Paweł Myśliński provided surface support throughout the operation. Each member of the diving team accumulated many hours underwater during the expedition, with the project requiring repeated deep dives, equipment preparation and a significant amount of logistical work.

A mine full of unanswered question

Podgórze Uranium Mine is a unique place. The mine was developed during the uranium-mining period in Kowary in the middle of the twentieth century and operated under strict secrecy. Over the years, tens of kilometres of underground workings were created. After mining operations ended, the deeper sections gradually flooded. For decades, the lowest levels remained inaccessible.

The first serious diving projects in the mine began many years later. Divers including Daniel Kowalski, Witek Hoffmann, Filip Długosz and Paweł Myśliński spent countless hours preparing the entrance shaft, removing debris and opening access to submerged sections of the mine. Over the following years, extensive passages were explored and lined at approximately 30, 70 and 110 metres. The deeper levels remained largely unknown.

Until our expeditions in 2024.

What we found

During the November expedition we managed to:

reopen and investigate the 150-metre level from Shaft No. 3,
locate the entrance to the 190-metre level,
reach the area of the approximately 230-metre level,
descend Shaft No. 3 to a maximum depth of -227 metres,
and document the deepest accessible sections of the flooded mine.

The project answered some questions, but created many new ones. The 150-metre level continues beyond a steel gate. The 190-metre level exists behind a timbered entrance. And the deepest level remains there, more than 220 metres below the surface, waiting beyond a hazardous section of the shaft.

For now, those passages remain unexplored.

The deepest dive in Poland

The 227-metre dive became the deepest dive ever carried out in Poland. But for us, the depth itself was not the main objective. The goal was to understand the structure of the deepest part of the mine, identify possible routes forward and determine what would be required to explore them safely.

In that sense, the expedition was successful. We now know considerably more about Shaft No. 3 and the deepest levels of Podgórze. And we also know that the mine still has more to reveal.

Diving team:

Bartłomiej Pitala
Tomasz Wciórka
Mariusz Banaszak

Surface support:

Paweł Myśliński

Special thanks to TK Diving Team in Kraków for preparing the breathing gases required for the dives below 200 metres.