Considering the fact that there were 21 workdays in July, the daily progress amounts to nearly 14.5 metres, which, in a per-shift calculation, is a progress of more than 3.6 metres. The new record was set in the course of works on the Cz-1 gallery in deposit 364/2, at a level of 1,050 metres, with a thickness of approx. 2 m, in lining V32/10, constructed every 0.75 m. At its disposal the team has an AM-75 mining machine.
“On the whole, our team has always been making good progress. When the conditions are good, you just keep going, without thinking whether the progress is record-setting or not,” Krzysztof Lisowicz, the foreman of one of the four squads, humbly said. “A couple of days before the end of the month the management told us that we could easily break the record,” added the other foremen of team GRP-3: Zbigniew Jabłoński, Janusz Wojdak, and Sebastian Dobosz.
Miners from the mining face squads of team GRP-3 only asked what the record was and, without much effort, reached 302.8 metres. “We don’t feel like stakhanovites from the Soviet era. The conditions were favourable, there was no methane to bother us, so we did our job. I think that even if we didn’t know we had a record on our hands, we would break it either way,” said Krzysztof Oprzędek, the team foreman of GRP-3.

“Until now, the monthly progress for our mining faces was at 250 to 270 metres,” said Grzegorz Marszałek, the mining works manager in charge of preparation works. “I daresay that the results of team GRP-3 are a record not only four our mine, but for the entire Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa,” he added.
Piotr Chmiel, the director of Budryk, admits we was a calm spectator of the work of team GRP-3, and when it became clear that a new record would be set, he decided the miners should be invited for a traditional ham-hock meal.
“Naturally, the invitation stands. We decided to meet on 1 October,” said Piotr Chmiel, the mine director.

photograph: Agnieszka Materna