General Assembly 2 at the MMIL

The Vieille Montagne Heritage Association held its second AGM in June in Liege, which was followed by a visit to the MMIL (Maison de la Métallurgie et de l’Industrie de Liège).

Many thousands of Vieille Montagne documents are in the process of being catalogued by the AVAE (Association pour la Valorisation des Archives d’Enterprises). It has been estimated that the work will take about four years, although a lot can be completed already within the first year. Initial funding for this has been generously given by the international UMICORE company based in Brussels.

A set of fascinating mid-nineteenth century watercolour paintings illustrating the zinc industry around Kelmis is to be restored and properly recorded.

Since the opening of the MVM (Museum Vieille Montagne) in Kelmis, Belgium, in May 2018, the number of visitors has exceeded all expectations !

A member of the VMHA has taken upon himself the heroic task of cataloguing and digitally improving around 2,400 photographs of the VM, most of which were taken in the early 20th century.

Plans are under way to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the death of J.J.D. Dony, an abbot who was also a chemist! Dony was the founding father of the zinc industry in the Kelmis/Moresnet area of Belgium who obtained a lease from Napoleon in 1806 to work the zinc mine.