[7][8] On October 14, 1855, the shaft was sunk to a depth of 441.64 meters, after crossing the first 3.30-metre thick vein of coal; the second layer was sought out through three unsuccessful test pits at the bottom.

[10] Two-story iron cages (corresponding to two levels of revenue at the bottom and daylight) fitted with Duvergier and then Fontaine parachutes (following accidents) were used to transport 800-kilogram minecarts.

A fourteen-meter-high headframe made of fir and oak supported wheels 3.50 meters in diameter through which aloe cables passed.

[12] The same year, iron cables were tested at Saint Joseph under unfavorable conditions (heavy water infiltration), but the results were not satisfactory.

The shaft was closed until May 8 for safety reasons, but this was not sufficient, as a violent detonation occurred at 3 am on May 9.

[7] On September 21, a connecting gallery was dug with the Saint-Charles shaft, which provided ventilation.

In the same year, large-volume vertical Appolt furnace were built, followed by horizontal Belgian coke ovens.

[19]At the beginning of the 20th century, the Saint Joseph shaft facilities were demolished and replaced by the Union Industrielle sawmill, which employed around twenty people in 1918.

At the beginning of the 21st century, the industrial buildings that once housed a sawmill and subsequently the shop were still in existence.

[20][22] The Saint-Joseph shaft had many slag heaps, which were exploited after the mines closed in 1958 and almost disappeared at the end of the 20th century.

It is part of the Ronchamp coal mines rail network and runs over a wooden bridge that no longer exists as of the beginning of the 21st century.