Vieille Montagne
Vieille Montagne is the name of a former
zinc mine in
Kelmis (La Calamine), a town in
Belgium in between
Liège and
Aachen. The mine's name is French for "the old mountain", and this is reflected in the its German name,
Altenberg. The mine was once a bone of contention between
Germany on the one side and the
Netherlands and later Belgium on the other , resulting in the mine and village becoming the neutral territory of
Moresnet.
It was first opened in 1805 and continued in operation until the end of the 19th century.
Vieille Montagne is also the name of the mining company that also owns a zinc mine in Zinkgruvan in Sweden.