In underground mining a hoist or winder [1] 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. [1] There are three principal types of hoists used in mining applications:
Drum hoists are the most common type of hoist used in North America, South Africa and South America. When using a drum hoist the hoisting cable is wound around the drum when the conveyance is lifted. Single-drum hoists can be used in smaller applications, however double-drum hoists easily allow the hoisting of two conveyances in balance (i.e. one skip being lifted while a second skip is being lowered). [1] Drum hoists are mounted on concrete slabs within a hoistroom, the hoisting ropes run from the drum, up to the top of the headframe, over a sheave wheel and down where they connect to the conveyance (cage or skip).
Drum hoists require less routine maintenance than a friction hoist, because the haulage cable is fixed to the drum, and therefore have less downtime, and the maintenance regime is less sophisticated. Drum hoists can continue to operate if the shaft bottom gets flooded and less shaft depth is required below the loading pocket, unlike friction hoists where such flooding could cover the tail ropes and so on. Because drum hoists do not have tail ropes, the hoisting system is more suited to slinging beneath a conveyance. [2]
Drum hoists take up more space than a friction hoist for the same service as all of the haulage cable must be accommodated on the drum when the hoist is fully raised. Drum hoists require rapid fluctuations in power demand, which can pose a problem if power is generated on site rather than provided through the main power grid. [2]
Friction (or Koepe) [3] hoists are the most common type of hoist used in Europe, Asia and Australia. [1] The friction hoist was invented in 1877 by Frederick Koepe. [4] Friction hoists are mounted on the ground above the mine shaft, or at the top of the headframe. Friction hoists utilize tail ropes and counterweights and do not have the haulage rope fixed to the wheel, but instead passed around it. The tailropes and weights offset the need for the motor to overcome the weight of the conveyance and hoisting rope, thereby reducing the required horsepower of the hoisting motor by up to 30%, with the overall power consumption remaining the same. Friction hoists, unlike drum hoists, can and normally do use multiple ropes giving them a larger payload capacity, however since they require a larger safety factor, they are impractical for very deep shafts. [3]
New friction hoists are less expensive than new drum hoists, and the lead time for delivery may be shorter as there is more competition for manufacturing. Multi-rope friction hoists have a larger lift capacity than a drum hoist. A friction hoist is smaller in diameter than a drum hoist for the same service, making it easier to ship and install than a drum hoist. [2]
Balanced friction hoists are not suitable for hoisting from multiple loading pockets on different horizons within a shaft, and are generally not suitable for deep shafts. Friction hoists can not operate at normal speeds if the shaft bottom is flooded and water reaches the tail ropes. [2]
The Blair multi-rope hoist is a variation of the double-drum hoist. It is used in extremely deep shafts as the second drums cable are used to balance the primary load. [1]
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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, but also involves using the same techniques for excavating ores of gems such as diamonds or rubies. Soft rock mining refers to excavation of softer minerals such as salt, coal, or oil sands.
A winch is a mechanical device that is used to pull in or let out or otherwise adjust the tension of a rope or wire rope.
A capstan is a vertical-axled rotating machine developed for use on sailing ships to multiply the pulling force of seamen when hauling ropes, cables, and hawsers. The principle is similar to that of the windlass, which has a horizontal axle.
Shaft mining or shaft sinking is excavating a vertical or near-vertical tunnel from the top down, where there is initially no access to the bottom.
A fly system, or theatrical rigging system, is a system of rope lines, blocks (pulleys), counterweights and related devices within a theater that enables a stage crew to fly (hoist) quickly, quietly and safely components such as curtains, lights, scenery, stage effects and, sometimes, people. Systems are typically designed to fly components between clear view of the audience and out of view, into the large opening, known as the fly loft, above the stage.
Wire rope is several strands of metal wire twisted into a helix forming a composite rope, in a pattern known as laid rope. Larger diameter wire rope consists of multiple strands of such laid rope in a pattern known as cable laid.
A rigger is a skilled tradesperson who specializes in the assistance of manual mechanical advantage device comprising pulley, block and tackle or motorised such as a crane or derrick or chain hoists or capstan winch.
A hoist is a device used for lifting or lowering a load by means of a drum or lift-wheel around which rope or chain wraps. It may be manually operated, electrically or pneumatically driven and may use chain, fiber or wire rope as its lifting medium. The most familiar form is an elevator, the car of which is raised and lowered by a hoist mechanism. Most hoists couple to their loads using a lifting hook. Today, there are a few governing bodies for the North American overhead hoist industry which include the Hoist Manufactures Institute, ASME, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. HMI is a product counsel of the Material Handling Industry of America consisting of hoist manufacturers promoting safe use of their products.
Exploration diamond drilling is used in the mining industry to probe the contents of known ore deposits and potential sites. By withdrawing a small diameter core of rock from the orebody, geologists can analyse the core by chemical assay and conduct petrologic, structural, and mineralogical studies of the rock.
A headframe is the structural frame above an underground mine shaft so as to enable the hoisting of machinery, personnel, or materials.
Elandsrand is a small mining town approximately 10 km (6 mi) outside Carletonville next to Blyvooruitzicht.
Underground mine ventilation provides a flow of air to the underground workings of a mine of sufficient volume to dilute and remove dust and noxious gases (typically NOx, SO2, methane, CO2 and CO) and to regulate temperature. The source of these gases are equipment that runs on diesel engines, blasting with explosives, and the orebody itself. The largest component of the operating cost for mine ventilation is electricity to power the ventilation fans, which may account for one third of a typical underground mine's entire electrical power cost.
The Hard Rock Miner's Handbook is a reference book that deals with the underground hard rock mining industry. It was written by engineer Jack de la Vergne as a not for profit publication. The first edition was published in 2000 by McIntosh Engineering, a mining engineering consulting company. It is currently in its third printing, is used by thousands of people in the mining industry, including students, professors, miners, engineers and mining executives as a source of practical mining information, as well as "Rules of Thumb" and "Tricks of the trade" are used widely in the mining industry. Copies of the handbook have been distributed to more than 113 countries around the world.
Jack de la Vergne is a Canadian civil engineer who specializes in underground mining and recipient of the Professional Engineers Ontario Engineering Medal in 2005.
The Pyne Mine was a vertical shaft iron ore mine operated by the Woodward Iron Company and located near the Lacey's Chapel community outside Bessemer, Alabama in Shades Valley. It was, along with Woodward's Songo Mine, one of only two shaft mines dug in the Birmingham District, and the last ore mine to operate in the region, closing in 1971.
A mine railway, sometimes pit railway, is a railway constructed to carry materials and workers in and out of a mine. Materials transported typically include ore, coal and overburden. It is little remembered, but the mix of heavy and bulky materials which had to be hauled into and out of mines gave rise to the first several generations of railways, at first made of wooden rails, but eventually adding protective iron, steam locomotion by fixed engines and the earliest commercial steam locomotives, all in and around the works around mines.
Wire rope spooling technology is the technology to prevent wire rope getting snagged when spooled, especially in multiple layers on a drum.
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.
LHD loaders are similar to conventional front end loaders but developed for the toughest of hard rock mining applications, keeping overall production economy, safety, and reliability in consideration. They are extremely rugged, highly maneuverable, and exceptionally productive. More than 75% of the world's underground metal mines use LHD for handling the muck of their excavations.
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.