The mine was once a bone of contention between Prussia on the one side and the United Kingdom of the Netherlands (later Belgium) on the other, that resulted in a piece of land that became the territory of Neutral Moresnet. ==History== After he developed an original refining process, Belgian industrialist Jean-Jacques Dony received a decree from the Napoleonic authorities in 1806, allowing him to mine the zinc ore deposit at La Vieille Montagne near Liège.
After Napoleon's defeat, in 1816 the département was divided between Prussia, the Netherlands and the neutral zone of Neu-Moresnet, which contained the zinc mine.
The Société des Mines et Fonderies de Zinc de la Vieille-Montagne|italic=no ( ‘Vieille Montagne Zinc Mining Company and Foundries’) was created in 1837, after the independence of Belgium (which took over the Dutch claim to the neutral zone).
The ore was shipped to another affiliate in Balen, Belgium. The Société des Mines et Fonderies de Zinc de la Vieille-Montagne|italic=no company of Belgium (or ‘VM’ for short) came to England in 1896, specifically to the small remote village of Nenthead in the Pennine Hills of Cumbria.
Then in 1949, after fifty-three years of operation, the VM sold its mineral leases, plant and equipment and left. In the department of Ariège in France, the VM company took the lease on the zinc mines at Bentaillou in the Pyrenees, also after World War II. The name became synonymous with zinc oxide and with rolled zinc, especially for building applications.
The group continues its rolled zinc activity under the brand VMZinc, which still refers back to the historical link with Vieille Montagne. ==Strike in Balen== In 1971 it was discovered the workmen in the other Belgian plants had a much higher salary for similar work.
In 1989 Vieille Montagne was merged into the Union Minière group, based in Belgium, which became Umicore in 2003.
In 1989 Vieille Montagne was merged into the Union Minière group, based in Belgium, which became Umicore in 2003.
The book was filmed in 2012.
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