Mining in our community is inextricably connected with the mining activities of the Greek Mining Company Ltd. The G.M.C. was essentially created by the struggle and labor of the Cypriot people (Greek-cypriots and Turkish-cypriots) that carved together the bowels of the Cypriot earth in difficult times. The Anonymous Greek Company of Chemical Products and Fertilizers (AGCCPF) was the forerunner of the Greek Mining Company.

AGCCPF reached our island in the 1920’s and employed many people, villages during the difficult times of English domination and poverty. It offered valuable currency to the island through exports, a necessary prerequisite for the island’s further development.

The AGCCPF who originated from Greece, is immediately connected with the capitals of the Bank of Athens and was founded in 1909 by Nicolas Kanellopoulos, Epaminondas Charilaos, Prodromos Bodosakis and Loucas Mousoulos (the professor Loucas Mousoulos was born in 1910 in Karavas of the Keryneia district).

The advent of the AGCCPF in our village took place during the fist years of the 1920’s. In July 1923 the fist delegation of the AGCCPF reaches the island. The representative of the company in Cyprus was the house of N.P.Lanits in Limassol. The AGCCPF came to Cyprus because the island was known for its tradition in mining and the company was also aware of the prospect of Cypriot mining activity. It conducted surveys in our village and administrators of the Greek Company visited our village very often.

Indicative chart of employees and payments of the time

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The company is activated in our village during 1924 and 1925 with local administrators Mr. Nicolaides, Mr. Tsakona and Mr. Kepler.

EXCRUCIATING LIFE CONDITIONS

Work conditions and the working hours, low salaries, lack of legislation for the protection of miners made the life of miners very difficult. Their shifts (working hours) were initially based on sunrise and sunset.

Then, mines were working three shifts per day, namely 7:00 a.m. until 15:00 p.m. A’ Shift-15:00 until 23:00 p.m. B’ Shift – and 23:00 p.m. until 7:00 a.m. of next day C’ Shift.

Our village, Mitsero experienced the difficult beginning, the prime and glory and the natural downfall of the mines.

For many of the inhabitants of our community the Company was identical with exploitation and abuse, the worst working conditions, low salaries, property stealing, incurable diseases brought about by hard subterranean work. Cyprus in 1923 was characterized by poverty.  Jobs were just a few and people had to work under all circumstances so as to feed their families and survive. They had no other choice.     
Working in mines is possibly one of the most hard and difficult activities. There was no technology used at the time to help the workers, people had to face nature and work with their bare hands. Their lives were under a permanent threat. However, the Company offered work at the time. Not easy, but difficult, dangerous almost inhumane. Therefore, when people talk about the company, they lower the volume of their voice because it helped them to be independent and raise their children.

Many people who followed AGCCPF and EME in their gold, copper, iron pyrites and other precious metals’ discoveries. These metals were excavated in Cyprus at a difficult time for Cyprus and helped the island move on with valuable currency.

The mine of Kokkinopezoula 1964

The narrations regarding life in the mines of Mitsero (Kokkinopezoula Mine-kokkinoyia and Agrokipia) belong to Mr. Loizos Christodoulou Bourvoulla, Mr. ioannis Soteriou, Mr. Michalis Kladeftiras and Mrs, Theodossia Char. Kokkinou. They were all born from around 1912 until 1920 and were “shoeless and hungry” working at the age of 15-16. Women and men, Greekcypriot and Turkishcypriot together, working in shifts under the earth. In 1923, according t Mr. Loizos Vourvoullas, daily payment reached 10-12 farthings, numerous workers, famine was everywhere and people came to the mine to work. They arrives from early dawn from the surrounding villages on foot or by bicycle, worked non-stop for eight hours with a small recess for lunch, and then they returned to their villages on foot, exhausted, dirty, with their lungs filled with dust. Payments were raised slightly; in 1926 workers were paid 3 schillings per day, whilst unskilled workers 1 1/5 schillings. It is worth mentioning that before II’ World War, machines were used only for a few activities. Some of the first miners of our village at that time were Geroloucas, Mavroyiorkas, V. Moudouros, Nicolas Kouroushis a.o.

The first two miners’ deaths at the mine

The death of a refugee named Costas and of Evgenios Kanellos, a Greek technical administrator of AGCCPF, at the pit of Kali Elpida on the mountain of Koroni, is something that stigmatized daily life in Mitsero during the first years of the mine. Kanellos was living in the village, at the house of Stavros Hadjinicolas and was always in the subterranean part of the mine. One morning,  according to Loizos Vourvoulas, Mr. Costas the Refugee, namely the supervisor, went down to start working at the “Pit of Kali Elpida”. As soon as he got there, the acetylene lamp used to light the working space went off, as there was no oxygen there at the time. This made everyone worried. The technical administrator, Mr. Evgenios Kanellos was immediately notified and went down to help Costas. Unfortunately, the lack of oxygen, possibly in combination with other factors, killed both of them. The whole village tried to help-trying to bring them around with vinegar-but it was hopeless. Kanellos and Costas died in the mine of Mitsero. 

Gold Factory in Mitsero (Remains, at it is today

Finding gold and the factory
The mines of Mitsero-Agrokipia-Kokkinopezoula-Kokkinoyia were in 1935 found gold and everyone was quite upset. Due to this discovery, the Directors of EME, Mr. Costas Magglis and Mr. Charalambos Maraggos moved to the village and stayed there for a long time (at the houses of Costas Psaltis). What is more, many other Company officials stayed at the village such as the family of Nicolas Skopelitis that stayed at the house of Polycarpos Panayi. Mrs. Theodossia Char. Kokkinou-today 83 years old (see picture below), a girl then, was working during at the excavations of gold and narrated how the precious metal, found almost 3 meters below the surface of the earth, was gathered.

Holding special tools such as peckers and shovels, the workers cleared the mud, and then what they called “stournari”, namely the very poor mixture of earth that contained traced of the precious metal. The gold lode was excavated with the use of peckers; it was immediately stored in bags, weighted and sewn locally. Gold in these mines was of three qualities: the first was the solid lode that was the first choice and was immediately exported. The second and third qualities remained in Mitsero and were enhanced at the plant of gold constructed by the AGCCPF on the north part of the community, at the foothills of Mountain Kriatis. It must be noted that all workers at the site and the plant were constantly controlled during their exit. This lead many times to their humiliation, as the authorities tried to avoid theft. The even checked their food utensils, their pockets even their mouths and their hair. 

Theodossia Char. Kokkinou

The Difficult Period of War 1939-1946
The II World War stopped the growth of mining activity in Cyprus. European markets were shut and demand was very low. (Many people said that industries were shut down on purpose so as to force Cypriots to join the English Empire army). Even though pyrites are highly demanded during war because of their high content of sulphuric acid (it is a necessary ingredient of explosives) and even though Cyprus was the only productive country of the English Empire, exports were highly reduced. After Italy joined the war, all mines were shut and a big part of the Cypriot population was found without a job. The AGCCPF reduced production and by the end of 1940 all facilities were shut and transferred to Vassilikos.

The rename of the Company
The rename of the Company took place on the 24th of May 1948 with the record of the Company and the edition of 150.000 one-pound shares. The deal between EME and AGCCPF presupposed that 14,993 shares were to be given to AGCCPF. The latter would sell all its mining businesses in Cyprus to EME for this price.

The Re-operation of the Company in Mitsero
The re-operation of the Company in our village started in 1951. New roads, new squares (most of them constructed with the bare hands of the workers “with the pecker and the chisel, with the pickaxe and the shovel”). Surveys were conducted with modern for the time means. Surveys showed that there were beds of pyrites and the company successfully used them.

In 1953 a subterranean usage of the mines of Kokkinopezoula and Kokkinoyia began.

Kokkinopezoula today

Kokkinoyia today

According to Mr. Michalis Kadeftiras and from what l. Kyprianos Christodoulou (1909) and l. Stavros Matzilas (1914-1985) that worked at the Kokkinopezoula and Kokkinoyia mines told their children, daily work consisted of:  the mine diggers of the shift used to go down (the depth where pyrites is located is almost 100m) using a lift. They opened the “numbers” in the subterranean crawlway. Before that, a worker responsible for the construction of the basis (known as “posikadoros”). The crawlway was two meters high and two meters wide. The “numbers” were opened with the usage of explosives while mine diggers waited for the explosions in the crawlway. Two mine diggers worked in each number and they used to “open” 40 numbers per day. As soon as the used the explosives, there was so much dust that they could not see each other, but because mine diggers were also paid as “entrepreneurs”, they rushed to fill their wagons defying dust. The daily salary was equal to 8 wagons. The explosions were powerful and they sometimes reached 50 meters; however, the workers had to be there and fill their wagons with mineral waiting to be enhanced.

Michalis Kladeftiras	l. Stavros Matzilas
l. Kyprianos Christodoulou

As mentioned earlier the daily salary was equal to 8 wagons. Those who managed to take 12 wagons out, were paid 12 farthings extra; those who managed to take 15 wagons out, were paid 15 farthings extra; For those who managed to take more than 15 wagons out, each wagon was paid with 2 extra shillings. Many managed to take 40 or even 50 wagons out per day but most of them face breathing problems, since the dust they inhaled damaged their health, as it was the main reason for lung infections that lead to the death of many people in the villages around Mitsero and the villages in the area of Pitsilia.

When visiting the area of Pitsilia and the communities of Platanistasa and Alona in Nicosia district today, we can see old ladies dressed in black, widows-victims that lost their husbands because of the Company. It has not been a long time since the miners’ disease could be cured, lung infections, that lead more than half male population to death. Protective measures were later on taken so as to ensure the safety of the diggers; it was however late. In the cemeteries of these communities, under the dense shadow of the cypresses one can see graves of young people aged between 18-30 that were trying to make a living and help their families. They gave their lives for a few farthings so as to raise heir children. 

Mine diggers used to stay in these “trenches” that looked like tombs and were as high as churches, according to Mr. Michalis. The people who used the explosives came out with black faces. The minerals were placed in the wagons and that is how they reached the surface of the earth; it then went to the “avatzies”, to the laundry where it was initially cracked with a heavy metal (“matsa”) and then crashed with machines. After the enhancement at the Mitsero laundry, the minerals were loaded for Karavostasi and after 1974 for Vassilikos. Subterranean production in mines was time-limited. Explosions and the search for precious metals, the opening of new crawlways and “numbers” made everything more difficult and more dangerous. The mine of Kokkinopezoula worked under the earth from 1953 until 1959 and then on the surface of the earth.

Many inhabitants of our community worked in the subterranean parts of the Kokkinopezoula and Kokkinoyia mines, such as Ieremias Kokokotronis, Nestoras Damianou, kyprianosu Christodoulou, Nicolas Moudouros, Georgios Koutsiis, michalis Kladeftiras, Pavlos Vasiliou, Chrysostomos Katssiartos, Kyriacos Karicos, Stavros Matzilas, vassilis hadjigeorgiou, Andreas Hadjiminas, Michael Vassiliou, Prokopis Gavrias, Costas Vrakas, Costis Tsiolis, Georgios Gavriel Katsiaris, Christodoulos N. Fostiros a.o.

Many of the workers did not handle hard work. The health of many was damaged and they needed to seek for other jobs. The victims were many and the consequences of lung infections hard. The lucky ones were considered the ones, whose X-Rays showed their lungs closed to a percentage of 40-80%. They got a disability fund according to the percentage. One could see in coffee-shops and on the streets young and middle aged men that could not walk for more than a meter and their face was red, they could not breathe since their lungs were not working properly as they had to work at the mines for a piece of bread.

The first dead miners because of lung infection in our community were Kyriacos Tsaggaris and Gavriel Stavrou.

Kyriacos Tsaggaris	Gavriel Stavrou

The revelation of Kokkinopezoula
The discovery of Kokkinopezoula mine started in 1959. As Yiannis Soteriou that worked at the subterranean mine in Foukasa at the age of 15 and gained one and a half schilling per day and at the age of 18 at the subterranean mines of Mavrovouni and Kalavasos narrated, the first Excavators were brought in 1959.

Under the guidance of Theodoulos Achniotis and Kyriacos Mesaritis, Yiannis Soteriou, Kyriacos Athanasi and Charalambos put them together and trained the staff for their use and conservation. At the beautiful forest of the mountain, next to our community the tractors, the bulldozers and the excavators created the first layers for the superficial excavation of minerals. All soil without minerals or very low levels of minerals were moved aside and the rest of the minerals were loaded for the Mitsero laundry for enhancement. Our fellow inhabitants Kyriacos Papanastasiou, Modestos Kyriacou, the brothers Anastasis and Kyriacos Kyprianou, Andreas Mathietitis, Charalambis Flaounas, Andreas Flaounas a.o. worked for the revelation of the mine of Kokkinopezoula.

Mineral Enhancement Plant in Mitsero
A mineral enhancement plant (known as the laundry of Mitsero) was constructed on the north part of our village in 1954 under the supervision of German scientists. It was very modern for that time and operated in 1956. It was built there so as to enhance the several minerals (copper-pyrites-gold-silver a.o) near the excavation site and save money. The plant enhanced minerals until 1989. It has been operating as a pit unit from 1989 until today. Construction materials are produced such as sand, debris, lime. What is more, betonite is produced. 

The mines of Mitsero and their role during the 1955-1958 liberation struggle
The mines of Mitsero were at the peak of their success during the liberation struggle. According to narrations, it is certain that the Company was initiated in the Struggle and contributed the fighters with dynamite. It is also said that in October 1954, just before the outbreak of the EOKA fight, Constantinos Magglis sent Mr. Charalambos Maraggos on a secret mission in Rhodes and Kos, so as to recruit people from the islands, specialized on explosions. They came to Cyprus and trained the workers of them mines on explosions issues. It is estimated that almost 140.000 blocks of dynamite came out of the mine of Mitsero during the EOKA struggle. It must be noted that the dynamite was of Austrian origin, named NOBEL.     According to workers from Mitsero (Mr. Asitotelis Stavrou and Mr. Takis Kakoulis) who were also EOKA members and experienced the ways in dynamites were taken out of the mines, that the mines of Mitesro provided the Organization (EOKA) with the necessary for its purposes dynamite. EOKA initiated the administrators of the Company (Charalambos Maraggos, Demetris Economou and Dentrinos), the Chief-Supervisors, as well as the people handling the explosions and many other workers in order to achieve its goals. Discretion and secrecy were necessary preconditions for this undertaking to succeed as well as the necessary know-how regarding explosives accompanied by the sense of responsibility since it was a dangerous venture. Some of the initiated were Giorgos Zervas, Kyriacos Kakoulis (Kokonias), Ieremias Kolokotronis, Nicos Terezopoulos. The people responsible for the explosions in the mine and were always in danger was Andreas Argyrides from Polystipos, Kyriacos Palichoros from Platanistassa, Kyriacos  Stavrinou from Levadia Pitsilias, Andreas Pissis from Alethinou, Evripides Michael from Levadia Pitsilias and Demosthenis  Milidonis Xyliatos. The supervisors, cellarers, train drivers and many more were also initiated.

Towards the end of 1955, a group of EOKA fighters attacked the mine of Mitsero, arrested the keeper Lazaris Metes from Mitsero and took a great amount of explosives. After the attack at the explosives storage room, the inhabitants of the village were placed under control and security measures were taken in the mine. The presence of English troops was raised when a camp was created around the explosive storage rooms in the area of Geropalloura.Postscriptum: History was recorded and pictures of the mines of our village were taken by members of the Community Council of Mitsero, Polycarpos Kladeftiras and Christodoulos Kyprianou. We thank Mrs. Anna Maraggou from Nicosia for her valuable help and contribution.                              

Ιωάννης Σωτηρίου	Λοϊζος Βουρβουλλάς
Κυριάκος Κάρικος

An abstract concerning the organization and function of the Greek Mining Company during the year of 1950 follows.