The Halemba coal mine is a large mine in Ruda Śląska, Silesia, in southern Poland. Its name sadly made the headlines in November 2006, when an explosion resulted in 23 fatalities.

The photo above shows the office building in 2004, with a large green logo in New Zelek on its facade. By June 2012 (see Google Maps), this logo has been replaced with a more generic sign by Kompania Węglowa S.A., Europe’s largest coal mining company founded in 2003. However, there are still a few other vestiges in Bronisław Zelek’s idiosyncratic 1970s typeface, see below.

“[KWK] Halemba” — this sign on the roof of an adjacent building can still be seen on a Google snapshot from May 2013. Considering that New Zelek was specifically designed with a tight fit in mind, featuring diagonally sheared terminals for interlocking pairs, it is ironic that the letters have been tracked out so much here.

New Zelek in a beveled version on the other side of the road.

“Biuro Przepustek” [gate]

The now vanished sign at the office building, illuminated at night (c. 2006).