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Mining is the extraction of valuable geological materials from the Earth and other astronomical objects. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agricultural processes, or feasibly created artificially in a laboratory or factory. Ores recovered by mining include metals, coal, oil shale, gemstones, limestone, chalk, dimension stone, rock salt, potash, gravel, and clay. Ore must be a rock or mineral that contains valuable constituent, can be extracted or mined and sold for profit. Mining in a wider sense includes extraction of any non-renewable resource such as petroleum, natural gas, or even water.
Underground hard-rock mining refers to various underground mining techniques used to excavate "hard" minerals, usually those containing metals, such as ore containing gold, silver, iron, copper, zinc, nickel, tin, and lead. It also involves the same techniques used to excavate ores of gems, such as diamonds and rubies. Soft-rock mining refers to the excavation of softer minerals, such as salt, coal, and oil sands.
Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United Kingdom and South Africa, a coal mine and its structures are a colliery, a coal mine is called a 'pit', and the above-ground structures are a 'pit head'. In Australia, "colliery" generally refers to an underground coal mine.
Springhill is a community located in central Cumberland County, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Springhill mining disaster may refer to any of three deadly Canadian mining disasters that occurred in 1891, 1956, and 1958 in different mines within the Springhill coalfield, near the town of Springhill in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia. In the 1891 accident, 125 died; in 1956, 39 were killed; and in 1958, there were 75 miners killed.
A mining accident is an accident that occurs during the process of mining minerals or metals. Thousands of miners die from mining accidents each year, especially from underground coal mining, although accidents also occur in hard rock mining. Coal mining is considered much more hazardous than hard rock mining due to flat-lying rock strata, generally incompetent rock, the presence of methane gas, and coal dust. Most of the deaths these days occur in developing countries, and rural parts of developed countries where safety measures are not practiced as fully. A mining disaster is an incident where there are five or more fatalities.
Longwall mining is a form of underground coal mining where a long wall of coal is mined in a single slice. The longwall panel is typically 3–4 km (1.9–2.5 mi) long and 250–400 m (820–1,310 ft) wide.
Surface mining, including strip mining, open-pit mining and mountaintop removal mining, is a broad category of mining in which soil and rock overlying the mineral deposit are removed, in contrast to underground mining, in which the overlying rock is left in place, and the mineral is removed through shafts or tunnels.
Underground soft-rock mining is a group of underground mining techniques used to extract coal, oil shale, potash, and other minerals or geological materials from sedimentary ("soft") rocks. Because deposits in sedimentary rocks are commonly layered and relatively less hard, the mining methods used differ from those used to mine deposits in igneous or metamorphic rocks. Underground mining techniques also differ greatly from those of surface mining.
The Cumberland Railway and Coal Company is a defunct Canadian industrial company with interests in coal mines in Springhill, Nova Scotia, and a railway that operated from Springhill Junction to Parrsboro.
Room and pillar or pillar and stall is a variant of breast stoping. It is a mining system in which the mined material is extracted across a horizontal plane, creating horizontal arrays of rooms and pillars. To do this, "rooms" of ore are dug out while "pillars" of untouched material are left to support the roof – overburden. Calculating the size, shape, and position of pillars is a complicated procedure, and is an area of active research. The technique is usually used for relatively flat-lying deposits, such as those that follow a particular stratum. Room and pillar mining can be advantageous because it reduces the risk of surface subsidence compared to other underground mining techniques. It is also advantageous because it can be mechanized, and is relatively simple. However, because significant portions of ore may have to be left behind, recovery and profits can be low. Room and pillar mining was one of the earliest methods used, although with significantly more man-power.
The Crandall Canyon Mine, formerly Genwal Mine, was an underground bituminous coal mine in northwestern Emery County, Utah.
Retreat mining is the removal of pillars in the underground mining technique known as room and pillar mining.
Robert Edward Murray was an American mining engineer and businessman. He founded and was the chief executive officer of Murray Energy, a mining corporation based in St. Clairsville, Ohio, until it filed for bankruptcy. Murray was criticized for his denial of climate change, his actions following the Crandall Canyon Mine collapse, and for several large SLAPP suits he initiated. Multiple allegations of sexual misconduct were brought against him in 2014 and 2016, which were later settled out of court.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to mining:
The 2009 Handlová mine blast occurred on 10 August 2009 roughly 330 metres (1,080 ft) underground in Trencin Region, Slovakia at Hornonitrianske Bane Prievidza, a.s.s (HNB) coal mine located in the town of Handlová. 20 people were killed, nine others suffered minor injuries and were taken to hospital for treatment. Some historians have called the disaster the largest mining tragedy in Slovakia’s history. The deadly explosion, probably caused by flammable gases, occurred after mine rescuers had earlier been deployed to extinguish a fire in the Eastern shaft of the mine.
This is a partial glossary of coal mining terminology commonly used in the coalfields of the United Kingdom. Some words were in use throughout the coalfields, some are historic and some are local to the different British coalfields.
The Coalbrook mining disaster is the worst mining accident in the history of South Africa. The disaster occurred in the Coalbrook coal mine of Clydesdale Colliery on 21 January 1960 at around 19:00 when approximately 900 pillars caved in, almost 180 metres (590 ft) underground. The mine is situated in the Northern Free State, 21 kilometres (13 mi) south west of Vereeniging. About 1,000 miners were in the mine at the time and 437 died after being trapped, while the rest escaped through an incline shaft. The miners were suffocated by methane gas and crushed to death by rockfall.
Springhill Coal Mining is a National Historic Site of Canada located on the corner of Industrial Park Drive and Memorial Crescent in Springhill, Nova Scotia. The Historic Site, designated in 1998, consists of a museum and the land that once contained the Springhill Coal Mines. Springhill was once one of the most important coalfields in Canada, along with those in Pictou and Cape Breton. Springhill coal was shipped and marketed throughout the Maritimes and Quebec. The surviving mining features in Springhill are among the most complete in Canada. The Springhill Mines were made infamous by a number of disasters that occurred underground, including the 1891 explosion, the 1956 explosion and the 1958 bump.
References
- ↑ Energy Citations Database (ECD) - - Document #7218222
- 1 2 Bornstein, Seth; Talhelm, Jennifer (2007-08-17). "Stress Causes Killer Mine Bumps". USA Today. Associated Press.
- ↑ Coal Mine Bumps: Five Case Studies in the Eastern United States. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Accessed March 26, 2009.
- ↑ "Rescue Halted at Mine After 3 Killed and 6 Injured", New York Times, August 9, 2007, Retrieved August 17, 2007
- ↑ "Seismologists confirm Utah mine collapse probably caused temblor", U.S. Berkeley press release, August 9, 2007, Retrieved August 17, 2007
- ↑ "Owner of Utah mine is a famously combative figure. Boston Herald . Retrieved on August 10, 2007.