Z hľadiska ekonomického významu a rozsahu dobývacích prác bola šachta Althandel najdôležitejším banským dielom v Novej Bani. Okolie bývalého ústia šachty, kde v minulosti stáli ťažné zariadenia a prevádzkové budovy šachty, sa dodnes nazýva „Gápeľ“. Šachta mala celkovo šesť dobývacích obzorov. Prvý obzor – štôlňa Baptista – sa nachádzal v hĺbke asi 35 m. Obzor hronskej dedičnej štôlne Graner-Neufang šachta dosiahla v hĺbke 68 m. Pod úrovňou dedičnej štôlne boli vyrazené tri hlbinné obzory: prvý v hĺbke asi 25 m, druhý asi 50 m a posledný, na ktorom bola šachta ukončená, v hĺbke zhruba 70 m pod dedičnou štôlňou. Celková hĺbka šachty bola okolo 140 – 150 m. Šachta sa v dokumentoch spomína od polovice 16. storočia. Ťažili sa v nej spočiatku pomerne bohaté výberové rudy najmä zo žíl Jakub a Jozef, neskôr (v 19. storočí) tiež kýzové rudy zo žily Vavrinec. Na objemnej halde pod šachtou je možné dodnes nájsť kremennú žilovinu so zvyškami rúd s obsahom Au až do 6 g/t.
Do konca 17. storočia boli vyťažené rudy od povrchu až po úroveň obzoru hronskej dedičnej štôlne (Graner), ktorou voda prirodzene odtekala zo šachty do Hrona. Problémy nastali s postupom ťažby pod úroveň dedičnej štôlne, keď už nebolo možné ťažiť bez sústavného čerpania banských vôd z hlbokých dobývok. Na šachte boli postupne inštalované čerpacie zariadenia na rôzny pohon: konské gáple a rôzne vodné kolesá. Problémy s čerpaním vody mal vyriešiť „ohňový stroj“, ktorý postavil anglický mechanik Izák Potter podľa vzoru strojov Newcomenovej konštrukcie. Na šachte bol
v prevádzke v rokoch 1722 – 1729 a bol to prvý stroj tohto typu na európskom kontinente (mimo Anglicka). Parný stroj na šachte Althandel fungoval prvé dva roky len s problémami. Do plnej prevádzky bol uvedený na jar v roku 1724 po úpravách J. E. Fischera von Erlach. Ako na veľkú európsku raritu sa naň prišlo pozrieť viacero zahraničných odborníkov a učencov.  Vďaka tomuto stroju sa mesto Nová Baňa nezmazateľne zapísalo do dejín svetovej techniky. Banský závod však napriek tomu nebol schopný udržať svoju ziskovosť a po rozpade súkromného ťažiarstva sa dostal do rúk štátu a mesta. Koncom 18. a začiatkom 19. storočia bol banský závod Althandel vďaka opatreniam banského správcu J. Lilla opäť vysoko ziskový. Na šachte pracovalo vtedy vyše 150 robotníkov. Po krátkom období relatívnej prosperity bola šachta od prvej polovice 19. storočia udržiavaná v stratovej prevádzke až do ukončenia ťažby v roku 1887.

Location: In the valley heading to Maria Chapel in Kohútovo, an abandoned shaft entrance  was located the most likely in today garden belonging to the no. 553 land,
(18.643074°, 48.428965°) at the Mariánska ulica Street (the area of Vŕšky) at an altitude of 262 m above sea level; a large waste dump on the no. 548 land also belongs
to the workings.

The Althandel Shaft was the most significant mining workings in Nová Baňa regarding the economic importance and the scope of mining. To-date, the area of the  shaft entrance where mining engines and operating building were located in the past, is called ‚Gápeľ‘ (horse driven hoisting device).
There were six levels in the shaft. The first level – Baptista Adit – was located at a depth of approx. 35 m. The shaft reached the level of the Graner – Neufang Hereditary Adit (drainage level to Hron river) at a depth of 68 m. Under the Hereditary Adit three deep levels were dug: the first at a depth of approx. 25 m, the second at a depth of approx. 50 m and the last one at the bottom of the shaft at a depth of approx. 70 m below the Hereditary Adit. The total shaft depth was approx. 140 – 150 m.
The first written evidence on the shaft dates back to the second half of the 16th century. At the beginning, a high-grade ores mainly from the Jakub and Jozef veins were mined, later also (in the 19th century) the pyritous ores from the Vavrinec vein. A quartz gangue with residues of ores containing Au up to 6 g/t can be found in a waste dump under the shaft to this day. Ores from the surface to the Graner Hereditary Adit level were completely mined-out until the end of the 17th century. This Hereditary Adit was used for gravity draining of the shaft to the Hron River. The problems had come as the mining advanced below the Hereditary Adit and then it had been possible only with non-stop water pumping from the deeper workings. A number of variously-driven pumping engines were being installed on the shaft: horse driven hoist pumps and various waterwheels.

The so-called ‚fire engine‘ by English engineer Isaac Potter inspired by the Newcomen engine should have been a solution to problems with water pumping. This engine was operating in the shaft from 1722 – 1729 and was the first engine of its type in Europe (except for England). The steam engine on the Althandel Shaft was dealing with several problems for the first two years. It had been in the full operation since 1724 spring as some adjustments were made by J. E. Fischer von Erlach. A number of the European experts and scholars came to see this engine as a great European rarity. Nová Baňa is indelibly imprinted on the history of technology just thanks to this engine.

Despite this the mining plant had not been able to maintain the profitability and after the private mining association had come apart it was administered by the state and the town. By the end of the 18th and at the beginning of the 19th century the Althandel mining plant was again highly profitable thanks to the measures of J. Lill, the mine administrator. More than 150 workers worked in the shaft at that time. After only short period of relative prosperousness the shaft was again running at a loss from the first half of the 19th century to 1887 when the mining had been discontinued.