Underground Mining

    Underground mining is done when the rocks, minerals, or gemstones are too far underground to get out with surface mining.  Some kinds of underground mining are:

• Borehole Mining

• Drift Mining

• Hard Rock Mining

• Shaft Mining

• Slope Mining

    In order for the minerals to be taken out of the mine, the miners make underground rooms to work in. The mining company chooses the best way to get the minerals out.  Most mining is done using Continuous mining that uses a continuous mining machine to cut coal from the walls.  This means there is less blasting and drilling and puts less miners down in the mines.  It is safer than the old kind of mining that we described on our coal mine tour page.  Two of the ways that they mine underground are:

• Room and pillar mining:   This is used in the coal mine we visited.  There are intersecting 'rooms' with pillars of coal that hold up the roof.  These pillars are mined when the mine, or a part of it, are closing.  They are careful when they do this because the roof caves in as they back out.

• Longwall mining:   Usually a machine called a continuous miner slices layers of coal or minerals from the walls.

Rocks, minerals, and gemstones that are mined this way:

Machinery used for underground mining:

• Dump trucks

• Shuttle car

• Continuous miner

• Longwall mining equipment

• Getman Underground Mining Equipment