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Coal mining is the extraction of coal from the Earth for use as fuel. coal mine this image is from: http://www. ...
coal mine this image is from: http://www. ...
Official language(s) English Capital Largest city Cheyenne Cheyenne Area Ranked 10th - Total 97,872 sq mi (253,554 km²) - Width 280 miles (450 km) - Length 360 miles (580 km) - % water 0. ...
Coal (previously referred to as pitcoal or seacoal) is a fossil fuel extracted from the ground by underground mining or open-pit mining (surface mining). ...
Earth (often referred to as The Earth) is the third planet in the solar system in terms of distance from the Sun, and the fifth in order of size. ...
Fuel is a material with one type of energy which can be transformed into another usable energy. ...
Methods of extraction
The most economical of methods of coal extraction from coal seams depends on the depth and quality of the seams, and also the geology and environmental factors of the area being mined.
If the coal seams are near the surface, the coal is extracted by strip mining. Strip mining exposes the coal by the advancement of an open pit or strip. As the coal is exposed and extracted, the overburden from the still covered coal fills the former pit, and the strip progresses. Most open cast mines in the USA extract bituminous coal. In South Wales open casting for steam coal and anthracite is practised. Strip mining is the practice of mining a seam of mineral ore by first removing all of the soil and rock that lies on top of it. ...
Bituminous coal Bituminous coal is a soft coal containing a tar-like substance called bitumen. ...
Approximate extent of South Wales South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the East and South, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the North and West. ...
Anthracite coal Anthracite is a hard, compact variety of mineral coal that has a high luster. ...
Most coal seams are too deep underground for open cast mining. In deep mining, the room and pillar method progresses along the Mammoth coal vein seam, while pillars and timber are left standing to support the coal mine roof. A most dangerous method of operation in deep mining and is known as robbing the pillars. This is where miners attempt to remove and/or retreat between the timbers in order to get coal out of the main coal seam, allowing the roof to cave in. This method of mining is used principally in the United States and has contributed to many fatalities in the early history of coal mining.
Longwall mining is conducted along the seam with the use of self-advancing hydraulic roof supports known as "chocks" or "shields". These supports are placed in a line (up to 400 metres long), known as a "longwall" and as coal is removed from in front of the longwall, the supports are advanced. As the longwall advances, the cavity created behind the longwall known as the "goaf" caves in. Longwall mining is the principle method of underground mining in Australia. Longwall mining is form of underground coal mining. ...
Highwall mining is a form of coal mining in which a continuous miner is controlled remotely from outside the mine, and is guided along the seam straight back drilling holes in excess of 500 feet. A highwall is the unexcavated face of exposed overburden and coal in a surface mine. As the coal is sheared off the face of the seam, it falls below to a conveyor belt that transports the coal to the surface. A large amount of capital is required to purchase a highwall mining unit, but the labor costs are low because an operation does not require a full crew
Highwall auger mining is generally applied in an open cast mine, once open cut mining becomes uneconomic.
History - Main article: History of coal mining
The oldest continuously worked deep-mine in the UK and possibly the world is Tower Colliery at the northern end of the south Wales valleys. This colliery was started in 1805 and at the end of the 20th century it was bought out by its miners rather than allow it to be closed. // Coal mining during the Industrial Revolution Coal has been used for centuries. ...
Tower Colliery is the oldest, continuously worked deep-coal mine in the United Kingdom, and possibly the world, and the only mine of its kind which remains in the South Wales Valleys. ...
The South Wales Valleys are a number of industrialised valleys in South Wales. ...
The World Championships in coal-carrying take place every Easter Monday, at Ossett in West Yorkshire, UK The race starts from the site of the old Savile & Shaw Cross colliery. Badge of Ossett town. ...
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in England, corresponding roughly to the core of the West Riding of the traditional county of Yorkshire. ...
The first commercial coal mines in the United States were started in 1748 in Midlothian, Virginia, near Richmond, Virginia. [1] Events April 24 - A congress assembles at Aix-la-Chapelle with the intent to conclude the struggle known as the War of Austrian Succession - at October 18 - The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle is signed to end the war Adam Smith begins to deliver public lectures in Edinburgh Building of...
Midlothian, Virginia is an unincorporated place located in Chesterfield County, Virginia. ...
Nickname: River City Motto: Sic Itur Ad Astra Official website: http://www. ...
In the 1880s, Coal-cutting machines became available (prior to that, coal was mined underground by hand.)
By 1912, surface mining was underway with steam shovels specifically designed for coal mining. Wyoming strip mine Surface mining is a type of mining used to extract deposits of mineral resources that are close to the surface. ...
The industry has been subject to sometimes violent labor relations in the U.S. (for example, see Ludlow massacre). Union organizers were sometimes killed by management and vice-versa. See Molly Maguires. Today, coal mining is highly unionized, and the unions are sometimes militant. Mining communities are often close-knit with a strong sense of community spirit and religious faith. The field of labor relations looks at the relationship between management and workers, particularly groups of workers represented by a labor union. ...
Ludlow massacre monument The Ludlow massacre was the death of about 20 people during an attack by the Colorado National Guard on a tent colony of 1,200 striking coal miners and their families, including women and children, at Ludlow, Colorado on April 20, 1914. ...
Location of the counties of the Molly Maguires, in northeaastern Pennsylvania The Molly Maguires were a clandestine society of Irish miners who were engaged in a violent confrontation against the anthracite, or hard coal mining companies in the 19th century. ...
A union (labor union in American English; trade union, sometimes trades union, in British English; either labour union or trade union in Canadian English) is a legal entity consisting of employees or workers having a common interest, such as all the assembly workers for one employer, or all the workers...
The word militant has come to refer to any individual or party engaged in aggressive physical or verbal combat, normally for a cause. ...
Dangers to miners Historically, coal mining has been a very dangerous activity. Open cut hazards are principally slope failure, underground mining roof collapse and gas explosions. Most of these risks can be greatly reduced in modern mines, and multiple fatality incidents are now rare in the developed world. Improvements in mining methods (i.e. longwall mining), gas drainage, safety-lamps, and ventilation have reduced many of these risks. Safety lamp is the name of a variety of lamps for safety in coal-mines against coal dust, methane, or firedamp, a highly explosive mixture of natural gas apt to accumulate in them. ...
However, in lesser developed countries, thousands continue to die annually in coal mines. China in particular has the highest number of coal mining related deaths in the world, with official estimates of around 6,000 fatalities in 2004. Unofficial estimates place the figure much higher, at around 20,000 deaths. China also leads the world in the production and consumption of coal.
Chronic lung diseases, such as pneumoconiosis are common in miners, leading to reduced life expectancy. Black damp, a mixture of carbon dioxide and nitrogen in a mine can cause suffocation. There have been many deaths related to the safety conditions that exist in mines around the world. Pneumoconiosis, also known as miners lung, is a lung condition caused by the inhalation of dust, characterized by formation of nodular fibrotic changes in lungs. ...
World map showing Human Life expectancy Life expectancy is the average number of years remaining for a living being (or the average for a class of living beings) of a given age to live. ...
Carbon dioxide is an atmospheric gas comprised of one carbon and two oxygen atoms. ...
General Name, Symbol, Number nitrogen, N, 7 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 15, 2, p Appearance colorless Atomic mass 14. ...
(See: Mining disasters) A disaster is a natural or man-made event that negatively affects life, property, livelihood or industry, often resulting in permanent changes to human societies, ecosystems and environment. ...
Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2848x2136, 1538 KB) Summary Jared Dowhower Licensing I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ...
Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2848x2136, 1538 KB) Summary Jared Dowhower Licensing I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ...
Environmental impacts Coal mining frequently causes significant adverse environmental impacts. Strip mining typically destroys most environmental value in the land through which it passes. All forms of mining are likely to generate areas where coal is stacked and where the coal has significant sulphur content, such coal heaps generate highly acidic metal rich drainage when exposed to normal rainfall. These liquors can cause severe environmental damage to receiving water-courses. In addition, the waste heaps are subject to slipping, as in the Aberfan disaster which killed 144 people in 1966. Devils Punchbowl Waterfall, New Zealand. ...
For the chemical element see: sulfur. ...
Aberfan (in Welsh the f is pronounced like a v in standard English) is a small village 5 miles (8 km) south of Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales. ...
See also // Coal mining during the Industrial Revolution Coal has been used for centuries. ...
Acid mine drainage (AMD), also called acid rock water or acid rock drainage (ARD), refers to the outflow of acidic water from (usually) abandoned metal mines or coal mines. ...
Counties of the Coal Region of Pennsylvania, known for anthracite mining. ...
A Bevin Boy was one of the young British men conscripted to work in coal mines during the Second World War. ...
Pneumoconiosis is a lung condition caused by the inhalation of dust, characterized by formation of nodular fibrotic changes in lungs. ...
Bootleg mining is illegal coal mining. ...
A coal measure (stratigraphic unit) is the name given to any rock sequence that occurs in the upper part of the Carboniferous System in Europe. ...
Harlan County, USA is a 1976 documentary film documenting the efforts of 180 coal-miners on strike in Harlan County, Kentucky in 1974. ...
A mine fire is a fire that starts in a coal mine and burns underground. ...
Mining accidents are dangerous and often deadly accidents which occur in the process of mining minerals from underneath the surface of the planet. ...
Introduction Around the Augustinian Abbey of Rolduc coal is found very close to the surface, and since the 16th century it has been extracted for sale as fuel. ...
The Powder River Basin spanning the Montana — Wyoming border is the single largest source of coal mined in the United States. ...
Wilkes-Barre (IPA: , , or [1]) is a city located in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, of which it is the county seat. ...
External links Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Coal mining - Dueling Mythologies, by Gilbert Wesley Purdy. A book review/essay that contains considerable information on coal mining in the early 20th century.
- [2]. Excellent educational resource on longwall mining, provided by the University of Wollongong.
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