Vieille Montagne is the name of a former zinc

Zinc

Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...

 mine

Mining

Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...

 in Kelmis

Kelmis

Kelmis is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Liège. On January 1, 2006, Kelmis had a total population of 10,396...

 (La Calamine), a town in Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 between Liège and Aachen

Aachen

Aachen has historically been a spa town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Aachen was a favoured residence of Charlemagne, and the place of coronation of the Kings of Germany. Geographically, Aachen is the westernmost town of Germany, located along its borders with Belgium and the Netherlands, ...

. The mine's name is French for "the old mountain", and this is also reflected in its German name, Altenberg (earlier, Alten Galmei-Berg). The mine was once a bone of contention between Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 on the one side and the village that became the neutral territory of Moresnet

Moresnet

Neutral Moresnet was a tiny Belgian-Prussian condominium that existed from 1816 to 1920 between present-day Belgium and Germany. Prior to Belgian independence in 1830, the territory was a Dutch-Prussian condominium...

.

The mine was first opened in 1805 and continued its operation until the end of the nineteenth century, when a workforce of 300 produced 8,500 t of crude zinc annually.

The company opened a second zinc mine in Zinkgruvan

Zinkgruvan

Zinkgruvan is a locality situated in Askersund Municipality, Örebro County, Sweden with 383 inhabitants in 2005.It is situated close to Sweden's second largest lake, Vättern. The village is famous for its mining industry started by the belgian company Vieille Montagne in 1857, hence the name...

 in Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

, which is still in operation. It also ran a harbour in Åmmeberg

Åmmeberg

Åmmeberg is a locality situated in Askersund Municipality, Örebro County, Sweden with 654 inhabitants in 2005. It is situated at an estuary by a fjord of lake Vättern. It existed as early as the 12th century and had a mill owned by the convent in Riseberga...

 to ship the zinc.
The company also had mines in the UK in a village in Cumbria called Nenthead

Nenthead

The small village of Nenthead in the county of Cumbria is one of England's highest villages, at 1,500 feet. It was not built until the middle of the 18th century and was one of the earliest purpose-built industrial villages in Britain...

which were worked from 1896 until 1922. In Ariege in France the VM company took the lease on the zinc mines at Bentaillou in the Pyrenees, also after WW2.

The name became synonymous with zinc oxide. The company was the worlds oldest and also largest zinc producer, producing at its peak at least 149,000 tonnes per year