A headframe [1] (also known as a gallows frame, [2] winding tower, [3] hoist frame, [3] pit frame, [3] shafthead frame, [3] headgear, [3] headstock or poppethead) is the structural frame above an underground mine shaft so as to enable the hoisting of machinery, personnel, or materials. [2]
Modern headframes are built out of steel, concrete or a combination of both. Timber headframes are no longer used in industrialized countries, but are still used in developing nations. Conventionally steel headframes are used when a drum hoist is employed, and concrete headframes are built for friction hoists; however a steel headframe can be used with a friction hoist for shafts with a smaller capacity and depth. [1]
A steel headframe is less expensive than a concrete headframe; the tallest steel headframe measures 87 m. [4] Steel headframes are more adaptable to modifications (making any construction errors easier to remedy), and are considerably lighter, requiring less substantial foundations. As steel headframes are easier to design, they have the potential to utilize "off the shelf" design tools. Construction of a steel headframe can be easily interrupted and restarted if necessary for statutory holidays or bad weather, where slip forming concrete is not. Upon mine closure and mine reclamation a steel headframe is easier to demolish and may have value as scrap metal. [1]
A recently erected steel headgear in the Zambian copper belt town of Chililabombwe at the Konkola number 4 shaft has a total height of 81 metres to the top of the maintenance crane rail, with the centre-line of the head sheaves at 71 metres above the collar, making it the highest steel headgear in Africa.
Concrete headframes require less maintenance and are less susceptible to corrosion than steel headframes. There is much less waste of concrete during construction of a concrete headframe than there is of steel in construction of a steel headframe. Concrete headframes provide an enclosure upon construction, whereas steel headframes require cladding and insulation to protect from weather. Concrete headframes are less susceptible to vibrations and sway less during high winds. Concrete is usually more readily available than steel (except in remote locations), and the price is predictable, whereas fabricated steel prices can be volatile. [1]
Headframes have become prominent features in historic mining regions. The Ruhr district of Germany and the South Wales Valleys in Britain are both examples of areas which are now associated with headframes due to the large number constructed to mine coal during the Industrial Revolution. Most of these headframes have now been removed although both regions have turned non-operating mines with headframes into national museums; the German Mining Museum in Bochum and Big Pit National Coal Museum in Blaenavon. Sporting teams from former coal mining regions such as Llanharan RFC and Cilfynydd RFC have headframes included in their club badges.
In the United States, over a dozen headframes can still be seen around the town of Butte, Montana. Some of those headframes are illuminated at night with red LED lighting to commemorate Butte's copper mining heritage, and the headframe is easily the town's most iconic image.
In Yellowknife, Canada, the demolition of the Con Mine headframe has met significant public opposition. [5] The headframe was the tallest structure in the Northwest Territories [6] and is regarded by many in the town to be an important symbol of the region's mining heritage.
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.
The Con Mine (1938-2003) was the first gold mine developed in the Northwest Territories, Canada, just south of Yellowknife. The property was staked by Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company of Canada (Cominco) in September 1935 in response to the discovery of visible gold nearby; the name "Con" is an abbreviation of "Consolidated". The advent of winter prevented any prospecting from being conducted, but work in the summer of 1936 led to the discovery of numerous gold veins. The Con Mine entered production in 1938 and ceased operations in 2003. It has produced over 5,000,000 ozt (160,000 kg) of gold from 12,195,585 tons of ore processed. The mine was over 6,000 ft (1,800 m) deep.
Shaft mining or shaft sinking is the action of excavating a mine shaft from the top down, where there is initially no access to the bottom. Shallow shafts, typically sunk for civil engineering projects, differ greatly in execution method from deep shafts, typically sunk for mining projects.
The Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex is a large former industrial site in the city of Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The first coal mine on the premises was founded in 1847, and mining activities took place from 1851 until December 23, 1986. For decades, starting in the late 1950s, the two parts of the site, Zollverein Coal Mine and Zollverein Coking Plant, ranked among the largest of their kinds in Europe. Shaft 12, built in the New Objectivity style, was opened in 1932 and is considered an architectural and technical masterpiece, earning it a reputation as the "most beautiful coal mine in the world".
Penallta Colliery was a coal mine, located close to Hengoed in the Rhymney Valley in the South Wales Valleys. A coal mine which in 1935 held the European record for coal wound in a 24-hour period, it is now the site of an original redevelopment project which will make use of the former pit head buildings.
In underground mining a hoist or winder is used to raise and lower conveyances within the mine shaft. Modern hoists are normally powered using electric motors, historically with direct current drives utilizing Ward Leonard control machines and later solid-state converters (thyristors), however modern large hoists use alternating current drives that are variable frequency controlled. There are three principal types of hoists used in mining applications:
Parsonage Colliery was a coal mine operating on the Lancashire Coalfield in Leigh, then in the historic county of Lancashire, England. The colliery, close to the centre of Leigh and the Bolton and Leigh Railway was sunk between 1913 and 1920 by the Wigan Coal and Iron Company and the first coal was wound to the surface in 1921. For many years its shafts to the Arley mine were the deepest in the country. The pit was close to the town centre and large pillars of coal were left under the parish church and the town's large cotton mills.
Bersham Colliery was a large coal mine located near Rhostyllen in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. The mine accessed seams found in the Denbighshire Coalfield.
The Sainte Marie Coal Mine is one of the major Ronchamp coal mines, located in Bourlémont, in eastern France. It was worked intermittently between 1866 and 1958, then finally closed. The concrete headframe was reinforced in 1924. On 29 March 2001, the headframe was listed as a French national monument historique.
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 Maaßener Gaipel is a pub catering for day trippers on the northeastern hillside of the Kranichsberg at a height of 420 m above NN, situated above the mining town of Lautenthal in the Harz Mountains of central Germany. The name goes back to the above-ground workings of the Maaßener Treibschacht or Maaßen Hoisting Shaft 51°51′49″N10°17′25″E, which was located immediately east of the inn. Gaipel is a common expression in the Upper Harz for a headframe and goes back to the use of a horse whim which in German is a Pferdegöpel. Whims were used to transport men and materiel up and down mineshafts, for example using man engines, and also to operate water management equipment. Maaßen is shorthand for the name of the local pit which was the Grube Zweite, Dritte, Vierte, Fünfte und Sechste Maß nach der Sachsenzeche. Maaß, also variously spelt Maaß, Maas or Mas, is a unit of length for a pit field (Grubenfeld) and in mining in the Upper Harz measured 28 Lachter or 53.8 metres. The pub was built in 1924 on the initiative of the Harz Club on the terrain of the old mine shaft. But decades before the area had already become a popular destination with walkers due to its views of the mining town and the valley of the Laute.
Bowen Consolidated Colliery is a heritage-listed former mine at Station Street and Second Avenue, Scottville, Whitsunday Region, Queensland, Australia. It was established in 1919. It is also known as No. 1 Underground Mine and Bowen Consolidated Coal Company Colliery. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 3 December 2009.
Vulcan Mine is a heritage-listed former mine at Mareeba Mining District, Irvinebank, Shire of Mareeba, Queensland, Australia. It was built from c. 1889 to 1930s. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.
Totley Township is a heritage-listed mining camp at Charters Towers Mining District, Ravenswood, Charters Towers Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built from c. 1883 to c. 1964. It is also known as Great Extended Mill, Great Extended Mine, and King's New Mill & Tramway. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.
London North Mine is a heritage-listed mine at Elphinstone street, Ravenswood, Charters Towers Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built from c. 1903 to 1915. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 22 February 1994.
Mount Isa Mine Early Infrastructure is a heritage-listed group of mining infrastructure on the Mount Isa Mine Lease, Mount Isa (locality), City of Mount Isa, Queensland, Australia. They comprise the Lawlor Shaft & Winding Plant, the Urquhart Shaft and Headframe, the Mount Isa Mine Experimental Dam, and the Mount Isa Mine Power Station. They were built from 1924 to c. 1963. They were added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 25 February 2005.
Dawson Valley Colliery is a heritage-listed former coal mine at Morgan Street and The Esplanade, Baralaba, Shire of Banana, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1921 onwards. It is also known as Baralaba Coal Mine. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 18 September 2009.
Richmond Main Colliery is a heritage-listed former coal mine and now open-air museum at South Maitland Coalfields, Kurri Kurri, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by the staff at J & A Brown's Engineering Workshops at Hexham under the direction of John Brown and built from 1908 to 1913 by J & A Brown. The site now operates as the Richmond Main Heritage Park, including the Richmond Vale Railway Museum and Richmond Main Mining Museum. The property is owned by Cessnock City Council. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
