1854–1864 The first pitsPrvé bane

Between 1854 and 1864 the first brown-coal pits were opened around the village, among them the Barbara and the Eva. The Novohrad coal basin is lignite: soft, young, low-grade coal, worth mining only where there is somewhere close by to burn it. In the nineteenth century that meant local demand and a small operation employing a handful of men. The coal had been there all along; what changed later was how badly a state wanted it.V rokoch 1854 – 1864 otvorili okolo dediny prvé hnedouhoľné bane, medzi nimi Barboru a Evu. Novohradská panva je lignitová: mäkké, mladé uhlie s nízkou výhrevnosťou, ktoré sa oplatí ťažiť len tam, kde je nablízku kde ho spáliť. V devätnástom storočí to znamenalo miestny odbyt a malú prevádzku pre hŕstku chlapov. Uhlie tu bolo celý čas — zmenilo sa len to, ako veľmi ho neskôr štát chcel.