8/13/2023 0 Comments Going medieval mining![]() They are credited with organizing production and consumption to the extent that by the year 1000 CE this activity could be called an industry. The Chinese began to use coal for heating and smelting in the Warring States Period (475-221 BCE). Since 1970, environmental issues have been paramount, including the health of miners, destruction of the landscape from strip mines and mountaintop removal mining, air pollution, and contribution to global warming.Ĭoal remains the cheapest energy source by a factor of 50% and even in many economies (such as the U.S.) it is the primary fuel used in electricity generation.Ĭoal was first used as a fuel in various parts of the world during the Bronze Age, 2000-1000 BCE. Often, the miners were leaders of the left or Socialist movements (as in Britain, Germany, Poland, Japan, Canada and the U.S.). Coal miners' labor unions became powerful in many countries in the 20th century. Since 1890 coal has also been a political and social issue. By the mid 20th century coal was for the most part replaced in domestic as well as industrial and transportation usage by oil, natural gas or electricity produced from oil, gas, nuclear or water power. However oil became an alternative fuel after 1920 (as did natural gas after 1980). īy 1900 the United States and Britain were the chief producers, followed by Germany. Britain developed the main techniques of underground mining from the late 18th century onward with further progress being driven by 19th and early 20th century progress. Around 1800 it became the main energy source for the Industrial Revolution, the expanding railway system of countries being a prime user. Mining deaths still occur periodically that arguably could have been prevented with appropriate safety equipment, training and safety procedures.Ĭoal has been used for centuries for small-scale furnaces. Poor safety records of some mine owners led to the formation of labor unions around the world, and today there remains a high degree of solidarity among mine workers. Bad air and water can suddenly flood a tunnel if a pocket of the non-oxygenated gas or water is reached without warning when removing coal from a seam.įollowing known best practices can reduce the likelihood of extensive loss of life during catastrophic mining accidents. In addition to the hazard of simple cave-ins, miners have to worry about their tunnels flooding, accumulation of "bad air" (gases lacking enough oxygen), accumulation of explosive gases resulting in fires and/or cave-ins, and many other unexpected problems. Modern mines have regular pillars at safe intervals of known thickness.Įven using the best known methods, underground coal mining is hazardous work. Early mining methods led to irregularly spaced supporting pillars, which often were not represented on maps, or were represented inaccurately. Various methods of surface and underground mining of coal.Įarly mining methods led to very unsafe mines which often were not even represented on maps at all, or were represented inaccurately. © Kentucky Geological Survey and Steve Greb. Shafts are dug and veins of coal are excavated and transported to the surface. Deep mines are similar to those for any other mineral deposit found deep enough in the earth that the cost of removing the overburden is prohibitive. Drift mining is common in the extreme southwest corner of Virginia. ![]() Because drift mines tend to be shallow, special equipment may be required to mine them, on which, for example, workers can lie flat on short vehicles moving inside the tunnel. ![]() Drift mines may be used after strip mining has used up surface coal. ![]() After strip mining has exhausted the available surface coal, the mining company often abandons the site with no restoration, leading to severe erosion problems (with resultant flooding or pollution) and to an unsightly landscape that cannot support plant growth due to the lack of topsoil. Coal is excavated from the ground in what becomes large pits, or else ribbons of stripped land stretch around a mountain. Strip mines remove any top soil with bulldozers to get at coal near the earth's surface. "Shaft" mines, also called deep mines, reach down vertically to open into person-sized horizontal tunnels which may be miles from the surface. So-called "drift" mines angle horizontally into a mountainside and may be very shallow (i.e., not tall enough for a person to stand up in). "Strip" mines scrape coal from the earth's surface they may be large open pits, or if on a mountain, result in ribbons chewed away from around the perimeter of a mountain at each level where a seam of coal exists. Mining of coal seams is achieved in several different ways. Coal tends to exist in seams, which are lateral layers under the earth that may vary in depth from one or two feet to dozens of feet. Coal mining is a term that encompasses the various methods used to extract the carbon-containing rock called coal from the ground. ![]()
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