Abutment - In coal mining, (1) the weight of the rocks
above a narrow roadway is transferred to the solid coal along the sides, which act as
abutments of the arch of strata spanning the roadway; and (2) the weight of the rocks over
a longwall face is transferred to the front abutment, that is, the solid coal ahead of the
face and the back abutment, that is, the settled packs behind the face.
Acid deposition or acid rain - Refers loosely to a
mixture of wet and dry "deposition" (deposited material) from the atmosphere
containing higher than "normal" amount of nitric and sulfuric acids. The
precursors or chemical forerunners of acid rain formation result from both natural
sources, such as volcanoes and decaying vegetation, and manmade sources, primarily
emissions of sulfur and nitrogen oxides resulting from fossil fuel combustion.
Acid mine water - Mine water that contains free sulfuric
acid, mainly due to the weathering of iron pyrites.
Active workings - Any place in a mine where miners are
normally required to work or travel and which are ventilated and inspected regularly.
Adit - A nearly horizontal passage from the surface by
which a mine is entered and dewatered. A blind horizontal opening into a mountain, with
only one entrance.
Advance - Mining in the same direction, or order of
sequence; first mining as distinguished from retreat.
Agglomeration - A family of processes which can be used to concentrate valuable minerals (including coal) based on their adhesive properties.
Air split - The division of a current of air into two or
more parts.
Airway - Any passage through which air is carried. Also
known as an air course.
Anemometer - Instrument for measuring air velocity.
Angle of dip - The angle at which strata or mineral
deposits are inclined to the horizontal plane.
Angle of draw - In coal mine subsidence, this angle is
assumed to bisect the angle between the vertical and the angle of repose of the material
and is 20° for flat seams. For
dipping seams, the angle of break increases, being 35.8° from the vertical for a 40° dip. The main break occurs over the seam at an angle from the vertical equal to half the dip.
Angle of repose - The maximum angle from horizontal at
which a given material will rest on a given surface without sliding or rolling.
Anthracite coal - Of the four types of coal, anthracite is the hardest and contains the highest heat value. It is almost pure carbon and is used mainly for home heating and cooking. In some developing countries, it is also used for industrial purposes.
Anticline - An upward fold or arch of rock strata.
Aquifer - A waterbearing bed of porous rock, often sandstone.
Arching - Fracture processes around a mine opening,
leading to stabilization by an arching effect.
Area (of an airway) - Average width multiplied by average
height of airway, expressed in square feet.
Auger - A rotary drill that uses a screw device to
penetrate, break, and then transport the drilled material (coal).
Auxiliary operations - All activities supportive of but
not contributing directly to mining.
Auxiliary ventilation - Portion of main ventilating
current directed to face of dead end entry by means of an auxiliary fan and tubing.
Azimuth - A surveying term that references the angle
measured clockwise from any meridian (the established line of reference). The bearing is
used to designate direction. The bearing of a line is the acute horizontal angle between
the meridian and the line.
Back - The roof or upper part in any underground mining cavity.
Backfill - Mine waste or rock used to support the roof after coal removal.
Barren - Said of rock or vein material containing no minerals of value, and of strata without coal, or containing coal in seams too thin to be
workable.
Barricading - Enclosing part of a mine to prevent inflow
of noxious gasses from a mine fire or an explosion.
Barrier - Something that bars or keeps out. Barrier
pillars are solid blocks of coal left between two mines or sections of a mine to prevent
accidents due to inrushes of water, gas, or from explosions or a mine fire.
Beam - A bar or straight girder used to support a span of
roof between two support props or walls.
Beam building - The creation of a strong, inflexible beam
by bolting or otherwise fastening together several weaker layers. In coal mining this is
the intended basis for roof bolting.
Bearing - A surveying term used to designate
direction. The bearing of a line is the acute horizontal angle between the meridian and
the line. The meridian is an established line of reference. Azimuths are angles measured
clockwise from any meridian.
Bearing plate - A plate used to distribute a given load.
In roof bolting, the plate used between the bolt head and the roof.
Bed - A stratum of coal or other sedimentary deposit.
Belt conveyor - A looped belt on which coal or other
materials can be carried and which is generally constructed of flameresistant material or
of reinforced rubber or rubberlike substance.
Belt idler - A roller, usually of cylindrical shape, which
is supported on a frame and which, in turn, supports or guides a conveyor belt. Idlers are
not powered but turn by contact with the moving belt.
Belt takeup - A belt pulley, generally under a conveyor
belt and inby the drive pulley, kept under strong tension parallel to the belt line. Its
purpose is to automatically compensate for any slack in the belting created by startup,
etc.
Bench - One of to or more divisions of a coal seam
separated by slate or formed by the process of cutting the coal.
Beneficiation - The treatment of mined material, making it
more concentrated or richer.
Berm - A pile or mound of material capable of restraining
a vehicle.
Binder - A streak of impurity in a coal seam.
Bit - The hardened and strengthened device at the end of a
drill rod that transmits the energy of breakage to the rock. The size of the bit
determines the size of the hole. A bit may be either detachable from or integral with its
supporting drill rod.
Bituminous coal - A middle rank coal (between
subbituminous and anthracite) formed by additional pressure and heat on lignite. Usually
has a high Btu value and may be referred to as "soft coal". A general term descriptive of coal intermediate in rank between subbituminous and anthracite and including metallurgical coals. Low and medium volatile bituminous coals are ranked by their carbon content, while high volatile bituminous coals are ranked by their heating value.
Black damp - A term generally applied to carbon dioxide.
Strictly speaking, it is a mixture of carbon dioxide and nitrogen. It is also applied to
an atmosphere depleted of oxygen, rather than having an excess of carbon dioxide.
Blasting agent - Any material consisting of a mixture of a
fuel and an oxidizer.
Blasting cap - A detonator containing a charge of
detonating compound, which is ignited by electric current or the spark of a fuse. Used for
detonating explosives.
Blasting circuit - Electric circuits used to fire electric
detonators or to ignite an igniter cord by means of an electric starter.
Bleeder or bleeder entries - Special air courses developed
and maintained as part of the mine ventilation system and designed to continuously move
airmethane mixtures emitted by the gob or at the active face away from the active
workings and into minereturn air courses. Alt: Exhaust ventilation lateral.
Boiler - A tank in which water is heated or steam is generated.
Bolt torque - The turning force in footpounds applied to
a roof bolt to achieve an installed tension.
Borehole - Any deep or long drillhole, usually associated
with a diamond drill.
Bottom - Floor or underlying surface of an underground
excavation.
Boss - Any member of the managerial ranks who is directly
in charge of miners (e.g., "shiftboss", "faceboss",
"fireboss", etc.).
Boxtype magazine - A small, portable magazine used to
store limited quantities of explosives or detonators for short periods of time at
locations in the mine which are convenient to the blasting sites at which they will be
used.
Brattice or brattice cloth - Fireresistant fabric or
plastic partition used in a mine passage to confine the air and force it into the working
place. Also termed "line brattice", "line canvas" or "line
curtain".
Break line - The line that roughly follows the rear edges
of coal pillars that are being mined. The line along which the roof of a coal mine is
expected to break.
Breaker - A machine which combines coal crushing and screening. Normally consists of a rotating drum in which coal is broken by gravity impact against the walls of the drum.
Breakthrough - A passage for ventilation that is cut
through the pillars between rooms.
Bridge carrier - A rubbertiremounted mobile conveyor,
about 10 meters long, used as an intermediate unit to create a system of articulated
conveyors between a mining machine and a room or entry conveyor.
Bridge conveyor - A short conveyor hung from the boom of
mining or lading machine or haulage system with the other end attached to a receiving bin
that dollies along a frame supported by the room or entry conveyor, tailpiece. Thus, as
the machine boom moves, the bridge conveyor keeps it in constant connection with the
tailpiece.
Brow - A low place in the roof of a mine, giving
insufficient headroom.
Brushing - Digging up the bottom or taking down the top to
give more headroom in roadways.
Btu - British thermal unit. A measure of the energy
required to raise the temperature of one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit.
Bug dust - The fine particles of coal or other material
resulting form the boring or cutting of the coal face by drill or machine.
Bump (or burst) - A violent dislocation of the mine
workings which is attributed to severe stresses in the rock surrounding the workings.
Butt cleat - A short, poorly defined vertical cleavage
plane in a coal seam, usually at right angles to the long face cleat.
Butt entry - A coal mining term that has different
meanings in different locations. It can be synonymous with panel entry, submain entry, or
in its older sense it refers to an entry that is "butt" onto the coal cleavage
(that is, at right angles to the face).
Cage - In a mine shaft, the device, similar to an elevator
car, that is used for hoisting personnel and materials.
Calorific value - The quantity of heat that can be
liberated from one pound of coal or oil measured in BTU's.
Cannel coal - A massive, noncaking block coal with a
fine, even grain and a conchoidal fracture which has a high percentage of hydrogen, burns
with a long, yellow flame, and is extremely easy to ignite.
Canopy - A protective covering of a cab on a mining
machine.
Cap - A miner's safety helmet. Also, a highly sensitive,
encapsulated explosive that is used to detonate larger but less sensitive explosives.
Cap block - A flat piece of wood inserted between the top
of the prop and the roof to provide bearing support.
Car - A railway wagon, especially any of the wagons
adapted to carrying coal, ore, and waste underground.
Cardump - The mechanism for unloading a loaded car.
Carbide bit - More correctly, cemented tungsten carbide. A
cutting or drilling bit for rock or coal, made by fusing an insert of molded tungsten
carbide to the cutting edge of a steel bit shank.
Carbon Dioxide - A colorless, odorless, nontoxic radiative gas that is essential to plant and animal life. It is also emitted as a result of burning organic materials, including fossil fuels.
Cast - A directed throw; in stripmining, the overburden
is cast from the coal to the previously mined area.
Certified - Describes a person who has passed an
examination to do a required job.
Chain conveyor - A conveyor on which the material is moved
along solid pans (troughs) by the action of scraper crossbars attached to powered chains.
Chain pillar - The pillar of coal left to protect the
gangway or entry and the parallel airways.
Charcoal - The residue, primarily carbon, from the partial combustion of wood or other organic matter.
Check curtain - Sheet of brattice cloth hung across an
airway to control the passage of the air current.
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) - Human produced chemical compounds containing chlorine, fluorine and carbon which are thought to be responsible for ozonelayer depletion. CFCs also act as a radiative gas.
Chock - Large hydraulic jacks used to support roof in
longwall and shortwall mining systems.
Clay vein - A body of claylike material that fills a void
in a coal bed.
Cleat - The vertical cleavage of coal seams. The main set
of joints along which coal breaks when mined.
Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 - A comprehensive
set of amendments to the federal law governing the nation's air quality. The Clean Air Act
was originally passed in 1970 to address significant air pollution problems in our cities.
The 1990 amendments broadened and strengthened the original law to address specific
problems such as acid deposition, urban smog, hazardous air pollutants and stratospheric
ozone depletion.
Clean Coal Technologies - A number of innovative, new
technologies designed to use coal in a more efficient and costeffective manner while
enhancing environmental protection. Several promising technologies include: fluidizedbed
combustion, integrated gasification combined cycle, limestone injection multistage
burner, enhanced flue gas desulfurization (or "scrubbing"), coal liquefaction
and coal gasification.
Coal - A solid, brittle, more or less distinctly
stratified combustible carbonaceous rock, formed by partial to complete decomposition of
vegetation; varies in color from dark brown to black; not fusible without decomposition
and very insoluble.
Coal desulfurization - Removal of sulfur from coal or coal gas.
Coal dust - Particles of coal that can pass a No. 20 sieve.
Coal Gasification - The conversion of coal into a gaseous fuel.
Coal mine - An area of land and all structures, facilities, machinery, tools, equipment, shafts, slopes, tunnels, excavations, and other property, real or personal, placed upon, under, or above the surface of such land by any person, used in extracting coal from its natural deposits in the earth by any means or method, and the work of preparing the coal so extracted, including coal preparation facilities. British term is "colliery".
Coal reserves - Measured tonnages of coal that have been calculated to occur in a coal seam within a particular property.
Coal washing - The process of separating undesirable
materials from coal based on differences in densities. Pyritic sulfur, or sulfur combined
with iron, is heavier and sinks in water; coal is lighter and floats.
Coke - A hard, dry carbon substance produced by
heating coal to a very high temperature in the absence of air. Coke is used in the manufacture of iron and steel.
Collar - The term applied to the timbering or concrete
around the mouth or top of a shaft. The beginning point of a shaft or drill hole at the
surface.
Colliery - British name for coal mine.
Column flotation - A precombustion coal cleaning
technology in which coal particles attach to air bubbles rising in a vertical column. The
coal is then removed at the top of the column.
Combustion chamber - The part of a boiler in which fuel is burned.
Comminution - The breaking, crushing, or grinding of coal,
ore, or rock.
Competent rock - Rock which, because of its physical and
geological characteristics, is capable of sustaining openings without any structural
support except pillars and walls left during mining (stalls, light props, and roof bolts
are not considered structural support).
Contact - The place or surface where two different kinds
of rocks meet. Applies to sedimentary rocks, as the contact between a limestone and a
sandstone, for example, and to metamorphic rocks; and it is especially applicable between
igneous intrusions and their walls.
Continuous miner - A machine that constantly extracts coal
while it loads it. This is to be distinguished from a conventional, or cyclic, unit which
must stop the extraction process in order for loading to commence.
Contour - An imaginary line that connects all points on a
surface having the same elevation.
Conventional mining - The first fullymechanized
underground mining method involving the insertion of explosives in a coal seam, the
blasting of the seam, and the removal of the coal onto a conveyor or shuttle car by a
loading machine.
Conveyor - An apparatus for moving material from one point
to another in a continuous fashion. This is accomplished with an endless (that is, looped)
procession of hooks, buckets, wide rubber belt, etc.
Core sample - A cylinder sample generally 1"-5"
in diameter drilled out of an area to determine the geologic and chemical analysis of the
overburden and coal.
Cover - The overburden of any deposit.
Creep - The forcing of pillars into soft bottom by the
weight of a strong roof. In surface mining, a very slow movement of slopes downhill.
Crib - A roof support of prop timbers or ties, laid in
alternate crosslayers, logcabin style. It may or may not be filled with debris. Also may
be called a chock or cog.
Cribbing - The construction of cribs or timbers laid at
right angles to each other, sometimes filled with earth, as a roof support or as a support
for machinery.
Crop coal - Coal at the outcrop of the seam. It is usually
considered of inferior quality due to partial oxidation, although this is not always the
case.
Crossbar - The horizontal member of a roof timber set
supported by props located either on roadways or at the face.
Crosscut - A passageway driven between the entry and its
parallel air course or air courses for ventilation purposes. Also, a tunnel driven from
one seam to another through or across the intervening measures; sometimes called
"crosscut tunnel", or "breakthrough". In vein mining, an entry
perpendicular to the vein.
Cross entry - An entry running at an angle with the main
entry.
Crusher - A machine for crushing rock or other materials.
Among the various types of crushers are the ball mill, gyratory crusher, Handsel mill,
hammer mill, jaw crusher, rod mill, rolls, stamp mill, and tube mill.
Cutter; Cutting machine - A machine, usually used in coal,
that will cut a 10 to 15cm slot. The slot allows room for expansion of the broken coal.
Also applies to the man who operates the machine and to workers engaged in the cutting of
coal by prick or drill.
Cycle mining - A system of mining in more than one working
place at a time, that is, a miner takes a lift from the face and moves to another face
while permanent roof support is established in the previous working face.
Demonstrated reserves - A collective term for the sum
of coal in both measured and indicated resources and reserves.
Deposit - Mineral deposit or ore deposit is used to
designate a natural occurrence of a useful mineral, or an ore, in sufficient extent and
degree of concentration to invite exploitation.
Depth - The word alone generally denotes vertical depth
below the surface. In the case of incline shafts and boreholes it may mean the distance
reached from the beginning of the shaft or hole, the borehole depth, or the inclined
depth.
Detectors - Specialized chemical or electronic instruments
used to detect mine gases.
Detonator - A device containing a small detonating charge
that is used for detonating an explosive, including, but not limited to, blasting caps,
exploders, electric detonators, and delay electric blasting caps.
Development mining - Work undertaken to open up coal
reserves as distinguished from the work of actual coal extraction.
Diffusion - Blending of a gas and air, resulting in a
homogeneous mixture. Blending of two or more gases.
Diffuser fan - A fan mounted on a continuous miner to
assist and direct air delivery from the machine to the face.
Dilute - To lower the concentration of a mixture; in this
case the concentration of any hazardous gas in mine air by addition of fresh intake air.
Dilution - The contamination of ore with barren wall rock
in stoping.
Dip - The inclination of a geologic structure (bed, vein,
fault, etc.) from the horizontal; dip is always measured downwards at right angles to the
strike.
Dragline - A large excavation machine used in surface
mining to remove overburden (layers of rock and soil) covering a coal seam. The dragline
casts a wire ropehung bucket a considerable distance, collects the dug material by
pulling the bucket toward itself on the ground with a second wire rope (or chain),
elevates the bucket, and dumps the material on a spoil bank, in a hopper, or on a pile.
Drainage - The process of removing surplus ground or
surface water either by artificial means or by gravity flow.
Draw slate - A soft slate, shale, or rock from
approximately 1 cm to 10 cm thick and located immediately above certain coal seams, which
falls quite easily when the coal support is withdrawn.
Drift - A horizontal passage underground. A drift follows
the vein, as distinguished from a crosscut that intersects it, or a level or gallery,
which may do either.
Drift mine - An underground coal mine in which the
entry or access is above water level and generally on the slope of a hill, driven
horizontally into a coal seam.
Drill - A machine utilizing rotation, percussion
(hammering), or a combination of both to make holes. If the hole is much over 0.4m in
diameter, the machine is called a borer.
Drilling - The use of such a machine to create holes for
exploration or for loading with explosives.
Dummy - A bag filled with sand, clay, etc., used for
stemming a charged hole.
Dump - To unload; specifically, a load of coal or waste;
the mechanism for unloading, e.g. a car dump (sometimes called tipple); or, the pile
created by such unloading, e.g. a waste dump (also called heap, pile, tip, spoil pike,
etc.).
Electrical grounding - To connect with the ground to make
the earth part of the circuit.
Electrostatic precipitator - An electrical device for removing fine particles (fly ash) from combustion gases prior to release from a power plant's stack.
Energy - The capacity to do work; more commonly used as an allencompassing generic term describing fuel sources used to provide power.
Energy mix - The combination of sources used to provide energy at any given time and place. Energy sources include coal, oil, gas, water (hydro), uranium (nuclear), wind, sunlight, geothermal, and others.
Entry - An underground horizontal or nearhorizontal
passage used for haulage, ventilation, or as a mainway; a coal heading; a working place
where the coal is extracted from the seam in the initial mining; same as "gate"
and "roadway", both British terms.
Evaluation - The work involved in gaining a knowledge of
the size, shape, position and value of coal.
Exploration - The search for mineral deposits and the work
done to prove or establish the extent of a mineral deposit. Alt: Prospecting and
subsequent evaluation.
Explosive - Any rapidly combustive or expanding substance.
The energy released during this rapid combustion or expansion can be used to break rock.
Extraction - The process of mining and removal of cal or
ore from a mine.
Face - The exposed area of a coal bed from which coal
is being extracted.
Face cleat - The principal cleavage plane or joint at
right angles to the stratification of the coal seam.
Face conveyor - Any conveyor used parallel to a working
face which delivers coal into another conveyor or into a car.
Factor of safety - The ratio of the ultimate breaking
strength of the material to the force exerted against it. If a rope will break under a
load of 6000 lbs., and it is carrying a load of 2000 lbs., its factor of safety is 6000
divided by 2000 which equals 3.
Fall - A mass of roof rock or coal which has fallen in any
part of a mine.
Fan, auxiliary - A small, portable fan used to supplement
the ventilation of an individual working place.
Fan, booster - A large fan installed in the main air
current, and thus in tandem with the main fan.
Fan signal - Automation device designed to give alarm if
the main fan slows down or stops.
Fault - A slipsurface between two portions of the earth's
surface that have moved relative to each other. A fault is a failure surface and is
evidence of severe earth stresses.
Fault zone - A fault, instead of being a single clean
fracture, may be a zone hundreds or thousands of feet wide. The fault zone consists of
numerous interlacing small faults or a confused zone of gouge, breccia, or mylonite.
Feeder - A machine that feeds coal onto a conveyor belt
evenly.
Fill - Any material that is put back in place of the
extracted ore to provide ground support.
Fire damp - The combustible gas, methane, CH4. Also, the
explosive methaneair mixtures with between 5% and 15% methane. A combustible gas formed
in mines by decomposition of coal or other carbonaceous matter, and that consists chiefly
of methane.
Fissure - An extensive crack, break, or fracture in the
rocks.
Fixed carbon - The part of the carbon that remains
behind when coal is heated in a closed vessel until all of the volatile matter is driven
off.
Flatlying - Said of deposits and coal seams with a dip up
to 5 degrees.
Flight - The metal strap or crossbar attached to the drag
chainandflight conveyor.
Float dust - Fine coaldust particles carried in
suspension by air currents and eventually deposited in return entries. Dust consisting of
particles of coal that can pass through a No. 200 sieve.
Floor - That part of any underground working upon which a
person walks or upon which haulage equipment travels; simply the bottom or underlying
surface of an underground excavation.
Flue Gas Desulfurization - Any of several forms of
chemical/physical processes that remove sulfur compounds formed during coal combustion.
The devices, commonly called "scrubbers", combine the sulfur in gaseous
emissions with another chemical medium to form inert "sludge" which must then be
removed for disposal.
Fluidized Bed Combustion - A process with a high
degree of ability to remove sulfur from coal during combustion. Crushed coal and limestone
are suspended in the bottom of a boiler by an upward stream of hot air. The coal is burned
in this bubbling, liquidlike (or "fluidized") mixture. Rather than released as
emissions, sulfur from combustion gases combines with the limestone to form a solid
compound recovered with the ash.
Fly ash - The finely divided particles of ash
suspended in gases resulting from the combustion of fuel. Electrostatic precipitators are
used to remove fly ash from the gases prior to the release from a power plant's
smokestack.
Formation - Any assemblage of rocks which have some
character in common, whether of origin, age, or composition. Often, the word is loosely
used to indicate anything that has been formed or brought into its present shape.
Fossil fuel - Any naturally occurring fuel of an
organic nature, such as coal, crude oil and natural gas.
Fracture - A general term to include any kind of
discontinuity in a body of rock if produced by mechanical failure, whether by shear stress
or tensile stress. Fractures include faults, shears, joints, and planes of fracture
cleavage.
Friable - Easy to break, or crumbling naturally.
Descriptive of certain rocks and minerals.
Fuse - A cordlike substance used in the ignition of
explosives. Black powder is entrained in the cord and, when lit, burns along the cord at a
set rate. A fuse can be safely used to ignite a cap, which is the primer for an explosive.
Gallery - A horizontal or a nearly horizontal underground
passage, either natural or artificial.
Gasification - Any of various processes by which coal
is turned into low, medium, or high Btu gases.
Gathering conveyor; gathering belt - Any conveyor which is
used to gather coal from other conveyors and deliver it either into mine cars or onto
another conveyor. The term is frequently used with belt conveyors placed in entries where
a number of room conveyors deliver coal onto the belt.
Geologist - One who studies the constitution, structure,
and history of the earth's crust, conducting research into the formation and dissolution
of rock layers, analyzing fossil and mineral content of layers, and endeavoring to fix
historical sequence of development by relating characteristics to known geological
influences (historical geology).
Geotechnical engineering - The branch of engineering that specializes in assessing the stability and strength of soil and rock materials, as well as groundwater conditions. With regard to mining, geotechnical engineering principles are used to determine the appropriate design of mine features such as pit walls, tunnels, and earthen embankments.
Gob - The term applied to that part of the mine from which
the coal has been removed and the space more or less filled up with waste. Also, the loose
waste in a mine. Also called goaf.
Global climate change - This term usually refers to
the gradual warming of the earth caused by the greenhouse effect. Many scientists believe
this is somewhat the result of manmade emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide,
chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) and methane, although there is no agreement among the scientific
community on this controversial issue.
Grain - In petrology, that factor of the texture of a rock
composed of distinct particles or crystals which depends upon their absolute size.
Greenhouse effect - The natural phenomenon that occurs when certain atmospheric gases trap radiated heat in the atmosphere. The greenhouse effect keeps the atmosphere warm and makes life on earth possible.
Grizzly - Course screening or scalping device that
prevents oversized bulk material form entering a material transfer system; constructed of
rails, bars, beams, etc.
Ground control - The regulation and final arresting of the
closure of the walls of a mined area. The term generally refers to measures taken to
prevent roof falls or coal bursts.
Ground pressure - The pressure to which a rock formation
is subjected by the weight of the superimposed rock and rock material or by diastrophic
forces created by movements in the rocks forming the earth's crust. Such pressures may be
great enough to cause rocks having a low compressional strength to deform and be squeezed
into and close a borehole or other underground opening not adequately strengthened by an
artificial support, such as casing or timber.
Gunite - A cement applied by spraying to the roof and
sides of a mine passage.
Haulage - The horizontal transport of ore, coal, supplies,
and waste. The vertical transport of the same is called hoisting.
Haulageway - Any underground entry or passageway that is
designed for transport of mined material, personnel, or equipment, usually by the
installation of track or belt conveyor.
Headframe - The structure surmounting the shaft which
supports the hoist rope pulley, and often the hoist itself.
Heading - A vein above a drift. An interior level or
airway driven in a mine. In longwall workings, a narrow passage driven upward from a
gangway in starting a working in order to give a loose end.
Head section - A term used in both belt and chain conveyor
work to designate that portion of the conveyor used for discharging material.
Heaving - Applied to the rising of the bottom after
removal of the coal; a sharp rise in the floor is called a "hogsback".
Highwall - The unexcavated face of exposed overburden
and coal in a surface mine or in a face or bank on the uphill side of a contour mine
excavation.
Highwall miner - A highwall mining system consists of
a remotely controlled continuous miner which extracts coal and conveys it via augers, belt
or chain conveyors to the outside. The cut is typically a rectangular, horizontal cut from
a highwall bench, reaching depths of several hundred feet or deeper.
Hogsback - A sharp rise in the floor of a seam.
Hoist - A drum on which hoisting rope is wound in the
engine house, as the cage or skip is raised in the hoisting shaft.
Hoisting - The vertical transport coal or material.
Hopper - A bin or funnel that is loaded from the top and which discharges through a door or chute at the bottom.
Horizon - In geology, any given definite position or
interval in the stratigraphic column or the scheme of stratigraphic classification;
generally used in a relative sense.
Horseback - A mass of material with a slippery surface in
the roof; shaped like a horse's back.
Hydraulic - Of or pertaining to fluids in motion.
Hydraulic cement has a composition which permits it to set quickly under water. Hydraulic
jacks lift through the force transmitted to the movable part of the jack by a liquid.
Hydraulic control refers to the mechanical control of various parts of machines, such as
coal cutters, loaders, etc., through the operation or action of hydraulic cylinders.
Hydrocarbon - A class of compounds containing hydrogen and carbon formed by the decomposition of plant and animal remains, including coal, mineral oil, petroleum, natural gas, paraffin, the fossil resins, and the solid bitumens occurring in rocks. Gasoline is a mixture of hydrocarbons.
Incline - Any entry to a mine that is not vertical (shaft)
or horizontal (adit). Often incline is reserved for those entries that are too steep for a
belt conveyor (+17 degrees 18 degrees), in which case a hoist and guide rails are
employed. A belt conveyor incline is termed a slope. Alt: Secondary inclined opening,
driven upward to connect levels, sometimes on the dip of a deposit; also called
"inclined shaft".
Incompetent - Applied to strata, a formation, a rock, or a
rock structure not combining sufficient firmness and flexibility to transmit a thrust and
to lift a load by bending.
Indicated coal resources - Coal for which estimates
of the rank, quality, and quantity have been computed partly from sample analyses and
measurements and partly from reasonable geologic projections. The points of observation
are * to 1 * miles apart. Indicated coal is projected to extend as an * mile wide belt
that lies more than * mile from the outcrop or points of observation or measurement.
Inferred coal resources - Coal in unexplored
extensions of the demonstrated resources for which estimates of the quality and size are
based on geologic evidence and projection. Quantitative estimates are based largely on
broad knowledge of the geologic character of the deposit and for which there are few, if
any, samples or measurements. The estimates are based on an assumed continuity or
repletion of which there is geologic evidence; this evidence may include comparison with
deposits of similar type. Bodies that are completely concealed may be included if there is
specific geologic evidence of their presence. The points of observation are 1 * to 6
miles apart.
In situ - In the natural or original position. Applied to
a rock, soil, or fossil when occurring in the situation in which it was originally formed
or deposited.
Intake - The passage through which fresh air is drawn or
forced into a mine or to a section of a mine.
Intermediate section - A term used in belt and chain
conveyor network to designate a section of the conveyor frame occupying a position between
the head and foot sections.
Immediate roof - The roof strata immediately above the
coalbed, requiring support during the excavation of coal.
Isopach - A line, on a map, drawn through points of equal
thickness of a designated unit. Synonym for isopachous line; isopachyte.
Jackleg - A percussion drill used for drifting or stoping
that is mounted on a telescopic leg which has an extension of about 2.5 m. The leg and
machine are hinged so that the drill need not be in the same direction as the leg.
Jackrock - A caltrop or other object manufactured
with one or more rounded or sharpened points, which when placed or thrown present at least
one point at such an angle that it is peculiar to and designed for use in puncturing or
damaging vehicle tires. Jackrocks are commonly used during labor disputes.
Job Safety Analysis (J.S.A.) - A job breakdown that gives
a safe, efficient job procedure.
Joint - A divisional plane or surface that divides a rock
and along which there has been no visible movement parallel to the plane or surface.
Kettle bottom - A smooth, rounded piece of rock,
cylindrical in shape, which may drop out of the roof of a mine without warning. The origin
of this feature is thought to be the remains of the stump of a tree that has been replaced
by sediments so that the original form has been rather well preserved.
Lamp - The electric cap lamp worn for visibility. Also,
the flame safety lamp used in coal mines to detect methane gas concentrations and oxygen
deficiency.
Layout - The design or pattern of the main roadways and
workings. The proper layout of mine workings is the responsibility of the manager aided by
the planning department.
Lift - The amount of coal obtained from a continuous miner
in one mining cycle.
Lignite - A low rank coal with a relatively high moisture content and relatively low heat/energy content.
Liquefaction - The process of converting coal into a
synthetic fuel, similar in nature to crude oil and/or refined products, such as gasoline.
Lithology - The character of a rock described in terms of
its structure, color, mineral composition, grain size, and arrangement of its component
parts; all those visible features that in the aggregate impart individuality of the rock.
Lithology is the basis of correlation in coal mines and commonly is reliable over a
distance of a few miles.
Load - To place explosives in a drill hole. Also, to
transfer broken material into a haulage device.
Loading machine - Any device for transferring excavated
coal into the haulage equipment.
Loading pocket - Transfer point at a shaft where bulk
material is loaded by bin, hopper, and chute into a skip.
LongwallMining - One of three major
underground coal mining methods currently in use. Employs a steal plow, or rotation drum,
which is pulled mechanically back and forth across a face of coal that is usually several
hundred feet long. The loosened coal falls onto a conveyor for removal from the mine.
Loose coal - Coal fragments larger in size than coal dust.
Low sulfur coal - Coal which has a sulfur content generally ranging from 0.1 per cent to 1.0 per cent. All western Canadian coal is low in sulfur.
Low voltage - Up to and including 660 volts by federal
standards.
Main entry - A main haulage road. Where the coal has
cleats, main entries are driven at right angles to the face cleats.
Main fan - A mechanical ventilator installed at the
surface; operates by either exhausting or blowing to induce airflow through the mine
roadways and workings.
Manhole - A safety hole constructed in the side of a
gangway, tunnel, or slope in which miner can be safe from passing locomotives and car.
Also called a refuge hole.
Man trip - A carrier of mine personnel, by rail or rubber
tire, to and from the work area.
Manway - An entry used exclusively for personnel to travel
form the shaft bottom or drift mouth to the working section; it is always on the intake
air side in gassy mines. Also, a small passage at one side or both sides of a breast, used
as a traveling way for the miner, and sometimes, as an airway, or chute, or both.
Measured coal resources - Coal for which estimates of
the rank, quality, and quantity have been computed from sample analyses and measurements
from closely spaced and geologically wellknown sample sites, such as outcrops, trenches,
mine workings, and drill holes. The points of observation and measurement are so closely
spaced and the thickness and extent of coals are so well defined that the tonnage is
judged to be accurate within 20 percent of true tonnage. Although the spacing of the
points of observation necessary to demonstrate continuity of the coal differs from region
to region according to the character of the coal beds, the points of observation are no
greater than * mile apart. Measured coal is projected to extend as a *mile wide belt
from the outcrop or points of observation or measurement.
Meridian - A surveying term that establishes a line
of reference. The bearing is used to designate direction. The bearing of a line is the
acute horizontal angle between the meridian and the line. Azimuths are angles measured
clockwise from any meridian.
Metallurgical coal - The type of coal which is converted to coke for use in manufacturing steel; often referred to as coking coal.
Methane - A potentially explosive gas formed
naturally from the decay of vegetative matter, similar to that which formed coal. Methane,
which is the principal component of natural gas, is frequently encountered in underground
coal mining operations and is kept within safe limits through the use of extensive mine
ventilation systems.
Methane monitor - An electronic instrument often mounted
on a piece of mining equipment, that detects and measures the methane content of mine air.
Mine development - The term employed to designate the
operations involved in preparing a mine for ore extraction. These operations include
tunneling, sinking, crosscutting, drifting, and raising.
Mine mouth electric plant - A coal burning
electricgenerating plant built near a coal mine.
Miner - One who is engaged in the business or occupation
of extracting ore, coal, precious substances, or other natural materials from the earth's
crust.
Mineral - An inorganic compound occurring naturally in the
earth's crust, with a distinctive set of physical properties, and a definite chemical
composition.
Mining Engineer - A person qualified by education,
training, and experience in mining engineering. A trained engineer with knowledge of the
science, economics, and arts of mineral location, extraction, concentration and sale, and
the administrative and financial problems of practical importance in connection with the
profitable conduct of mining.
Misfire - The complete or partial failure of a blasting
charge to explode as planned.
MSHA - Mine Safety and Health Administration; the federal
agency which regulates coal mine health and safety.
Mud cap - A charge of high explosive fired in contact with
the surface of a rock after being covered with a quantity of wet mud, wet earth, or sand,
without any borehole being used. Also termed adobe, dobie, and sandblast (illegal in coal
mining).
Natural ventilation - Ventilation of a mine without the
aid of fans or furnaces.
Nip - Device at the end of the trailing cable of a mining
machine used for connecting the trailing cable to the trolley wire and ground.
Nitrogen oxides (NOx) - Formed when nitrogen (N2) combines with oxygen (O2) in the burning of fossil fuels, from the natural degradation of vegetation, and from the use of chemical fertilizers. A significant component of acid deposition and photochemical smog. The primary source of nitrogen oxide emissions is automobile exhaust.
Open end pillaring - A method of mining pillars in which
no stump is left; the pockets driven are open on the gob side and the roof is supported by
timber.
Outby; outbye - Nearer to the shaft, and hence farther
from the working face. Toward the mine entrance. The opposite of inby.
Outcrop - Coal that appears at or near the surface.
Overburden - Layers of soil and rock covering a coal
seam. In surface mining operations, overburden is removed prior to mining using large equipment. When mining has been completed, it is either used to backfill the mined areas or is hauled to an external dumping and/or storage site.
Overcast (undercast) - Enclosed airway which permits one
air current to pass over (under) another without interruption.
Ozone (O3) - A bluish, toxic gas, with a pungent odor, formed of three oxygen atoms rather than the usual two. Occurs in the stratosphere and plays a role in filtering out ultraviolet radiation from the sun's rays. At ground level ozone is a major component of photochemical smog.
Panel - A coal mining block that generally comprises one
operating unit.
Panic bar - A switch, in the shape of a bar, used to cut
off power at the machine in case of an emergency.
Parting - (1) A small joint in coal or rock; (2) a layer
of rock in a coal seam; (3) a side track or turnout in a haulage road.
Peat - A dark brown or black deposit resulting from the partial decomposition of vegetative matter in marshes, swamps and bogs. One of the earliest stages of coal formation.
Percentage extraction - The proportion of a coal seam
which is removed from the mine. The remainder may represent coal in pillars or coal which
is too thin or inferior to mine or lost in mining. Shallow coal mines working under
townships, reservoirs, etc., may extract 50%, or less, of the entire seam, the remainder
being left as pillars to protect the surface. Under favorable conditions, longwall mining
may extract from 80 to 95% of the entire seam. With pillar methods of working, the
extraction ranges from 50 to 90% depending on local conditions.
Percussion drill - A drill, usually air powered, that
delivers its energy through a pounding or hammering action.
Permissible - That which is allowable or permitted. It is
most widely applied to mine equipment and explosives of all kinds which are similar in all
respects to samples that have passed certain tests of the MSHA and can be used with safety
in accordance with specified conditions where hazards from explosive gas or coal dust
exist.
Permit - As it pertains to mining, a document issued
by a regulatory agency that gives approval for mining operations to take place.
Piggyback - A bridge conveyor.
Pillar - An area of coal left to support the overlying
strata in a mine; sometimes left permanently to support surface structures.
Pillar robbing - The systematic removal of the coal
pillars between rooms or chambers to regulate the subsidence of the roof. Also termed
"bridging back" the pillar, "drawing" the pillar, or
"pulling" the pillar.
Pinch - A compression of the walls of a vein or the roof
and floor of a coal seam so as to "squeeze" out the coal.
Pinning - Roof bolting.
Pit Ponies - Small horses, mules, or ponies which were used to pull coal shuttle cars from underground mines during the 1800s.
Pitch - The inclination of a seam; the rise of a seam.
Plan - A map showing features such as mine workings or
geological structures on a horizontal plane.
Pneumoconiosis - A chronic disease of the lung arising
from breathing coal dust.
Portal - The structure surrounding the immediate entrance
to a mine; the mouth of an adit or tunnel.
Portal bus - Trackmounted, selfpropelled personnel
carrier that holds 8 to 12 people.
Post - The vertical member of a timber set.
Preparation plant - A place where coal is cleaned, sized,
and prepared for market.
Primary roof - The main roof above the immediate top. Its
thickness may vary from a few to several thousand feet.
Primer (booster) - A package or cartridge of explosive
which is designed specifically to transmit detonation to other explosives and which does
not contain a detonator.
Prop - Coal mining term for any single post used as roof
support. Props may be timber or steel; if steelscrewed, yieldable, or hydraulic.
Proximate analysis - A physical, or nonchemical, test of
the constitution of coal. Not precise, but very useful for determining the commercial
value. Using the same sample (1 gram) under controlled heating at fixed temperatures and
time periods, moisture, volatile matter, fixed carbon and ash content are successfully
determined. Sulfur and Btu content are also generally reported with a proximate analysis.
Pyrite - A hard, heavy, shiny, yellow mineral, FeS2 or
iron disulfide, generally in cubic crystals. Also called iron pyrites, fool's gold, sulfur
balls. Iron pyrite is the most common sulfide found in coal mines.
Raise - A secondary or tertiary inclined opening, vertical
or nearvertical opening driven upward form a level to connect with the level above, or to
explore the ground for a limited distance above one level.
Ramp - A secondary or tertiary inclined opening, driven to
connect levels, usually driven in a downward direction, and used for haulage.
Ranks of coal - The classification of coal by degree
of hardness, moisture and heat content. "Anthracite" is hard coal, almost pure
carbon, used mainly for heating homes. "Bituminous" is soft coal. It is the most
common coal found in the United States and is used to generate electricity and to make
coke for the steel industry. "Subbituminous" is a coal with a heating value
between bituminous and lignite. It has low fixed carbon and high percentages of volatile
matter and moisture. "Lignite" is the softest coal and has the highest moisture
content. It is used for generating electricity and for conversion into synthetic gas. In
terms of Btu or "heating" content, anthracite has the highest value, followed by
bituminous, subbituminous and lignite.
Reclamation - The restoration of land and
environmental values to a surface mine site after the coal is extracted. Reclamation
operations are usually underway as soon as the coal has been removed from a mine site. The
process includes restoring the land to its approximate original appearance by restoring
topsoil and planting native grasses and ground covers.
Recovery - The proportion or percentage of coal or ore
mined from the original seam or deposit.
Red dog - A nonvolatile combustion product of the
oxidation of coal or coal refuse. Most commonly applied to material resulting from in
situ, uncontrolled burning of coal or coal refuse piles. It is similar to coal ash.
Regulator - Device (wall, door) used to control the volume
of air in an air split.
Reserve - That portion of the identified coal or mineral deposit resource that can be economically mined at the time of determination. The reserve is derived by applying a recovery factor to that component of the identified resource designated as the reserve base or proven reserves.
Resin bolting - A method of permanent roof support in
which steel rods are grouted with resin.
Resources - Concentrations of coal in such forms that
economic extraction is currently or may become feasible. Coal resources broken down by
identified and undiscovered resources. Identified coal resources are classified as
demonstrated and inferred. Demonstrated resources are further broken down as measured and
indicated. Undiscovered resources are broken down as hypothetical and speculative.
Respirable dust - Dust particles 5 microns or less in
size.
Respirable dust sample - A sample collected with an
approved coal mine dust sampler unit attached to a miner, or so positioned as to measure
the concentration of respirable dust to which the miner is exposed, and operated
continuously over an entire work shift of such miner.
Retreat mining - A system of robbing pillars in which the
robbing line, or line through the faces of the pillars being extracted, retreats from the
boundary toward the shaft or mine mouth.
Return - The air or ventilation that has passed through
all the working faces of a split.
Return idler - The idler or roller underneath the cover or
cover plates on which the conveyor belt rides after the load which it was carrying has
been dumped at the head section and starts the return trip toward the foot section.
Rib - The side of a pillar or the wall of an entry. The
solid coal on the side of any underground passage. Same as rib pillar.
Rider - A thin seam of coal overlying a thicker one.
Ripper - A coal extraction machine that works by tearing
the coal from the face.
Rob - To extract pillars of coal previously left for
support.
Robbed out area - Describes that part of a mine from which
the pillars have been removed.
Roll - (1) A high place in the bottom or a low place in
the top of a mine passage, (2) a local thickening of roof or floor strata, causing
thinning of a coal seam.
Roll protection - A framework, safety canopy, or similar
protection for the operator when equipment overturns.
Roof - The stratum of rock or other material above a coal
seam; the overhead surface of a coal working place. Same as "back" or
"top."
Roof bolt - A long steel bolt driven into the roof of
underground excavations to support the roof, preventing and limiting the extent of roof
falls. The unit consists of the bolt (up to 4 feet long), steel plate, expansion shell,
and pal nut. The use of roof bolts eliminates the need for timbering by fastening
together, or "laminating", several weaker layers of roof strata to build a
"beam".
Roof fall - A coal mine cavein especially in permanent
areas such as entries.
Roof jack - A screw or pumptype hydraulic extension post
made of steel and used as temporary roof support.
Roof sag - The sinking, bending, or curving of the roof,
especially in the middle, from weight or pressure.
Roof stress - Unbalanced internal forces in the roof or
sides, created when coal is extracted.
Roof support - Posts, jacks, roof bolts and beams
used to support the rock overlying a coal seam in an underground mine. A good roof support
plan is part of mine safety and coal extraction.
Roof trusses - A combination of steel rods anchored into
the roof to create zones of compression and tension forces and provide better support for
weak roof and roof over wide areas.
Room and pillar mining - A method of underground
mining in which approximately half of the coal is left in place to support the roof of the
active mining area. Large "pillars" are left while "rooms" of coal are
extracted.
Room neck - The short passage from the entry into a room.
Round - Planned pattern of drill holes fired in sequence
in tunneling, shaft sinking, or stoping. First the cut holes are fired, followed by
relief, lifter, and rib holes.
Royalty - The payment of a certain stipulated sum on the
mineral produced.
Rubbing surface - The total area (top, bottom, and sides)
of an airway.
Runofmine - Raw material as it exists in the mine;
average grade or quality.
Safety fuse - A train of powder enclosed in cotton, jute
yarn, or waterproofing compounds, which burns at a uniform rate; used for firing a cap
containing the detonation compound which in turn sets off the explosive charge.
Safety lamp - A lamp with steel wire gauze covering every
opening from the inside to the outside so as to prevent the passage of flame should
explosive gas be encountered.
Sampling - Cutting a representative part of an ore (or
coal) deposit, which should truly represent its average value.
Sandstone - A sedimentary rock consisting of quartz sand
united by some cementing material, such as iron oxide or calcium carbonate.
Scaling - Removal of loose rock from the roof or walls.
This work is dangerous and a long bar (called a scaling bar)is often used.
Scoop - A rubber tired, battery or dieselpowered piece
of equipment designed for cleaning runways and hauling supplies.
Scrubber - Any of several forms of chemical/physical
devices that remove sulfur compounds formed during coal combustion. These devices,
technically know as flue gas desulfurization systems, combine the sulfur in gaseous
emissions with another chemical medium to form inert "sludge", which must then
be removed for disposal.
Seam - A stratum or bed of coal.
Secondary roof - The roof strata immediately above the
coalbed, requiring support during the excavating of coal.
Section - A portion of the working area of a mine.
Selective mining - The object of selective mining is to
obtain a relatively highgrade mine product; this usually entails the use of a much more
expensive stoping system and high exploration and development costs in searching for and
developing the separate bunches, stringers, lenses, and bands of ore.
Selfcontained breathing apparatus - A selfcontained
supply of oxygen used during rescue work from coal mine fires and explosions; same as SCSR
(selfcontained self rescuer).
Selfrescuer - A small filtering device carried by a
coal miner underground, either on his belt or in his pocket, to provide him with immediate
protection against carbon monoxide and smoke in case of a mine fire or explosion. It is a
small canister with a mouthpiece directly attached to it. The wearer breathes through the
mouth, the nose being closed by a clip. The canister contains a layer of fused calcium
chloride that absorbs water vapor from the mine air. The device is used for escape
purposes only because it does not sustain life in atmospheres containing deficient oxygen.
The length of time a selfrescuer can be used is governed mainly by the humidity in the
mine air, usually between 30 minutes and one hour.
Severance - The separation of a mineral interest from
other interests in the land by grant or reservation. A mineral dead or grant of the land
reserving a mineral interest, by the landowner before leasing, accomplishes a severance as
does his execution of a mineral lease.
Shaft - A primary vertical or nonvertical opening through
mine strata used for ventilation or drainage and/or for hoisting of personnel or
materials; connects the surface with underground workings.
Shaft mine - An underground mine in which the main
entry or access is by means of a vertical shaft.
Shale - A rock formed by consolidation of clay, mud, or
silt, having a laminated structure and composed of minerals essentially unaltered since
deposition.
Shearer - A mining machine for longwall faces that uses a
rotating action to "shear" the material from the face as it progresses along the
face.
Shift - The number of hours or the part of any day worked.
Shortwall - An underground mining method in which
small areas are worked (15 to 150 feet) by a continuous miner in conjunction with the use
of hydraulic roof supports.
Shuttle car - A selfdischarging truck, generally
with rubber tires or caterpillartype treads, used for receiving coal from the loading or
mining machine and transferring it to an underground loading point, mine railway or belt
conveyor system.
Sinking - The process by which a shaft is driven.
Skid - A trackmounted vehicle used to hold trips or cars
from running out of control. Also it is a flatbottom personnel or equipment carrier used
in low coal.
Skip - A car being hoisted from a slope or shaft.
Slack - Small coal; the finestsized soft coal, usually
less than one inch in diameter.
Slag - The waste product of the process of smelting.
Slate - A miner's term for any shale or slate accompanying
coal. Geologically, it is a dense, finetextured, metamorphic rock, which has excellent
parallel cleavage so that it breaks into thin plates or pencillike shapes.
Slate bar - The proper longhandled tool used to pry down
loose and hazardous material from roof, face, and ribs.
Slickenside - A smooth, striated, polished surface
produced on rock by friction.
Slip - A fault. A smooth joint or crack where the strata
have moved on each other.
Slope - Primary inclined opening, connection the surface
with the underground workings.
Slope mine - An underground mine with an opening that
slopes upward or downward to the coal seam.
Sloughing - The slow crumbling and falling away of
material from roof, rib, and face.
Solid - Mineral that has not been undermined, sheared out,
or otherwise prepared for blasting.
Sounding - Knocking on a roof to see whether it is sound
and safe to work under.
Spad - A spad is a flat spike hammered into a wooden
plug anchored in a hole drilled into the mine ceiling from which is threaded a plumbline.
The spad is an underground survey station similar to the use of stakes in marking survey
points on the surface. A pointer spad, or sight spad, is a station that allows a mine
foreman to visually align entries or breaks from the main spad.
Span - The horizontal distance between the side supports
or solid abutments along sides of a roadway.
Specific gravity - The weight of a substance compared with
the weight of an equal volume of pure water at 4 ° Celsius.
Split - Any division or branch of the ventilating current.
Also, the workings ventilated by one branch. Also, to divide a pillar by driving one or
more roads through it.
Squareset system - A method of timbering a mine invented by Philipp Deidesheimer in which heavy timbers, 18 inches square, are mortised together in retanglar sets from 6 or 7 feet high and from 4 to 6 feet long.
Squeeze - The settling, without breaking, of the roof and
the gradual upheaval of the floor of a mine due to the weight of the overlying strata.
Steeply inclined - Said of deposits and coal seams with a
dip of from 0.7 to 1 rad (40 degrees to 60 degrees).
Stemming - The noncombustible material used on top or in
front of a charge or explosive.
Stope - Any excavation made in a mine to remove ore that has been made accessable by shafts and drifts.
Strike - The direction of the line of intersection of a
bed or vein with the horizontal plane. The strike of a bed is the direction of a straight
line that connects two points of equal elevation on the bed.
Stripping ratio - The unit amount of overburden that
must be removed to gain access to a similar unit amount of coal or mineral material.
Stull - A timber prop or a timber wedged in place between two walls of a stope as part of a protective covering or platform.
Stump - Any small pillar.
Subbituminous coal - Coal with an energy/heat value between
lignite and bituminous.
Subsidence - The gradual sinking, or sometimes abrupt
collapse, of the rock and soil layers into an underground mine. Structures and surface
features above the subsidence area can be affected.
Sump - The bottom of a shaft, or any other place in a
mine, that is used as a collecting point for drainage water.
Sumping - To force the cutter bar of a machine into or
under the coal. Also called a sumping cut, or sumping in.
Support - The allimportant function of keeping the mine
workings open. As a verb, it refers to this function; as a noun it refers to all the
equipment and materialstimber, roof bolts, concrete, steel, etc.that are used to carry
out this function.
Surface mine - A mine in which the coal lies near the
surface and can be extracted by removing the covering layers of rock and soil.
Suspension - Weaker strata hanging from stronger,
overlying strata by means of roof bolts.
Syncline - A fold in rock in which the strata dip inward
from both sides toward the axis. The opposite of anticline.
Tailgate - A subsidiary gate road to a conveyor face as
opposed to a main gate. The tailgate commonly acts as the return airway and supplies road
to the face.
Tailpiece - Also known as foot section pulley. The pulley
or roller in the tail or foot section of a belt conveyor around which the belt runs.
Tail section - A term used in both belt and chain conveyor
work to designate that portion of the conveyor at the extreme opposite end from the
delivery point. In either type of conveyor it consists of a frame and either a sprocket or
a drum on which the chain or belt travels, plus such other devices as may be required for
adjusting belt or chain tension.
Tectonic forces - Forces pertaining to, causing, or resulting from structural deformation of the earth's crust.
Tension - The act of stretching.
Tertiary - Lateral or panel openings (e.g., ramp,
crosscut).
Thermal coal - A generic term used to describe coal which is used primarily to generate heat as opposed to metallurgical coal which is converted to coke for use in steel production. Sometimes referred to as steam coal.
Throughsteel - A system of dust collection from rock or
roof drilling. The drill steel is hollow, and a vacuum is applied at the base, pulling the
dust through the steel and into a receptacle on the machine.
Timber - A collective term for underground wooden
supports.
Timbering - The setting of timber supports in mine
workings or shafts for protection against falls from roof, face, or rib.
Timber set - A timber frame to support the roof, sides,
and sometimes the floor of mine roadways or shafts.
Tipple - Originally the place where the mine cars were
tipped and emptied of their coal, and still used in that same sense, although now more
generally applied to the surface structures of a mine, including the preparation plant and
loading tracks.
Ton - A short or net ton is equal to 2,000 pounds; a
long or British ton is 2,240 pounds; a metric ton is approximately 2,205 pounds.
Top - A mine roof; same as "back".
Torque wrench - A wrench that indicates, as on a dial, the
amount of torque (in units of footpounds) exerted in tightening a roof bolt.
Tractor - A batteryoperated piece of equipment that pulls
trailers, skids, or personnel carriers. Also used for supplies.
Tram - Used in connection with moving selfpropelled
mining equipment. A tramming motor may refer to an electric locomotive used for hauling
loaded trips or it may refer to the motor in a cutting machine that supplies the power for
moving or tramming the machine.
Transfer - A vertical or inclined connection between two
or more levels and used as an ore pass.
Transfer point - Location in the materials handling
system, either haulage or hoisting, where bulk material is transferred between
conveyances.
Trip - A train of mine cars.
Troughing idlers - The idlers, located on the upper
framework of a belt conveyor, which support the loaded belt. They are so mounted that the
loaded belt forms a trough in the direction of travel, which reduces spillage and
increases the carrying capacity of a belt for a given width.
Tunnel - A horizontal, or nearhorizontal, underground
passage, entry, or haulageway, that is open to the surface at both ends. A tunnel (as
opposed to an adit) must pass completely through a hill or mountain.
Ultimate analysis - Precise determination, by chemical
means, of the elements and compounds in coal.
Undercut - To cut below or undermine the coal face by
chipping away the coal by pick or mining machine. In some localities the terms
"undermine" or "underhole" are used.
Underground mine - Also known as a "deep"
mine. Usually located several hundred feet below the earth's surface, an underground
mine's coal is removed mechanically and transferred by shuttle car or conveyor to the
surface.
Underground station - An enlargement of an entry, drift,
or level at a shaft at which cages stop to receive and discharge cars, personnel, and
material. An underground station is any location where stationary electrical equipment is
installed. This includes pump rooms, compressor rooms, hoist rooms, batterycharging
rooms, etc.
Unit train - A long train of between 60 and 150 or
more hopper cars, dedicated to the transport of a single commodity such as coal between a single mine and destination.
Universal coal cutter - A type of coal cutting machine
which is designed to make horizontal cuts in a coal face at any point between the bottom
and top or to make shearing cuts at any point between the two ribs of the place. The
cutter bar can be twisted to make cuts at any angle to the horizontal or vertical.
Upcast shaft - A shaft through which air leaves the mine.
Valuation - The act or process of valuing or of estimating
the value or worth; appraisal.
Velocity - Rate of airflow in lineal feet per minute.
Ventilation - The provision of a directed flow of fresh
and return air along all underground roadways, traveling roads, workings, and service
parts.
Violation - The breaking of any state or federal mining
law.
Virgin - Unworked; untouched; often said of areas where
there has been no coal mining.
Void - A general term for pore space or other reopenings
in rock. In addition to pore space, the term includes vesicles, solution cavities, or any
openings either primary or secondary.
Volatile matter - The gaseous part, mostly hydrocarbons,
of coal.
Waste - That rock or mineral which must be removed from a
mine to keep the mining scheme practical, but which has no value.
Water Gauge (standard Utube) - Instrument that measures
differential pressures in inches of water.
Wedge - A piece of wood tapering to a thin edge and used
for tightening in conventional timbering.
Weight - Fracturing and lowering of the roof strata at the
face as a result of mining operations, as in "taking weight".
White damp - Carbon monoxide, CO. A gas that may be
present in the afterdamp of a gas or coaldust explosion, or in the gases given off by a
mine fire; also one of the constituents of the gases produced by blasting. Rarely found in
mines under other circumstances. It is absorbed by the hemoglobin of the blood to the
exclusion of oxygen. Onetenth of 1% (.001) may be fatal in 10 minutes.
Width - The thickness of a lode measured at right angles
to the dip.
Winning - The excavation, loading, and removal of coal or
ore from the ground; winning follows development.
Winze - Secondary or tertiary vertical or nearvertical
opening sunk from a point inside a mine for the purpose of connecting with a lower level
or of exploring the ground for a limited depth below a level.
Wire rope - A steel wire rope used for winding in shafts
and underground haulages. Wire ropes are made from medium carbon steels. Various
constructions of wire rope are designated by the number of strands in the rope and the
number of wires in each strand. The following are some common terms encountered: airplane
strand; cablelaid rope; cane rope; elevator rope; extraflexible hoisting rope; flat rope;
flattenedstrand rope; guy rope; guy strand; hand rope; haulage rope; hawser; hoisting
rope; lang lay rope; lay; left lay rope; left twist; nonspinning rope; regular lay;
reverselaid rope; rheostat rope; right lay; right twist; running rope; special flexible
hoisting rope; standing rope; towing hawser; transmission rope.
Working - When a coal seam is being squeezed by pressure
from roof and floor, it emits creaking noises and is said to be "working". This
often serves as a warning to the miners that additional support is needed.
Working face - Any place in a mine where material is
extracted during a mining cycle.
Working place - From the outby side of the last open
crosscut to the face.
Workings - The entire system of openings in a mine for the
purpose of exploitation.
Working section - From the faces to the point where coal
is loaded onto belts or rail cars to begin its trip to the outside.