When mining the silver-bearing lead ore on the Bastenberg and Dörnberg, the miners separated the mineral-rich ore from the waste rock in the tunnel. In addition, so-called " Pochjungen" were responsible for beating the valuable pieces of ore smaller with a Hamm right in front of the tunnel mouth.
In order to further process the ore before it was smelted in the smelter, potholders were built in Ramsbeck, including near the Valme. Even before 1800, such potholes stood above the Kornmühle - they used the water power of the Valme and occasionally interfered with mill operations. Between 1825, 1835-1840 and from 1853 onwards, the last punching mills were built in the area of the mill and the moated castle and remained in operation until 1889/90. After that, the modern "Willibald" processing plant on the western slope of the Dörnberg took over.
There were both dry and wet punching works, which were similar in design. In a dry punching mill, water is fed from above via a channel onto the water wheel. This drives a horizontal shaft from which the so-called thumblers protrude. They lift the heavy punches one after the other, which then fall with full force onto the ore on the bottom of the punch. With their cast-iron shoes, the punches crushed the ore into smaller pieces - a deafening, powerful noise that filled the whole area.