Profen is located about 25 km south-west of Leipzig, in the direction of Zeitz. MIBRAG (Mitteldeutsche Braunkohlengesellschaft mbH) is operating one of the last open pit mines in the Leipzig area there. The present plan is to keep this mine until 2031. Then coal mining will end - Germany plans to end the use of coal for energy production.
At the street leading vom Profen village to the road L 191 there is a view point for visitors. You can have a look across the pit south of the street there, although the view is partly obstructed by shrubs.
A coal mixing plant - no access for the public - is situated close to the view point. There coal is prepared for the needs of the users (nearby power plants). In this video you can watch trains transporting coal to Deuben industrial power plant. It is located about 10 km west of the mine. Mining locomotives of VEB Lokomotivbau Elektrotechnische Werke Hennigsdorf (LEW) are in service. They are sometimes called "mine crocodiles" due to their long hoods on both sides.
Sequence of scenes:
00:07 Open pit mine as seen from the visitors' view point
01:06 Coal train at the level crossing northwest of the mine, near road L 191
02:10 Mine as seen from the west
02:42 Coal train passing under the bridge of road B 91 near Naundorf
03:07 Industrial power plant at Deuben, view from south
03:20 Mining locomotive at a level crossing north of Theißen