Modern mining technologies
Mining has always traditionally been a dirty, intense, claustrophobic and very dangerous job to carry out and is an industry which has caused countless accidents and deaths, but over the centuries the way in which mines are run and operated has changed with the introduction of more and more pieces of mechanical equipment in order to make the task somewhat easier. The industry has come a long way from the days of small boys wheeling carts of coal from the coal face back to the surface or animals being used to pull along wagons. Many processes within mines have since been mechanised to improve the conditions in which miners have to work and also to improve the overall safety of the mine.
Miners still have to descend a considerable distance below ground if they are working in underground mines and the mine shafts are often several miles from the coal face but unlike previous generations who then had to walk several mile modern mines use small railways or vehicles to transport the miners to where they need to be. Similarly most modern mining makes use of mining and drilling machines to do a lot of the work rather than doing all of the work by hand. Miners are still needed to operate the machinery and make sure everything is under control but there is slightly less physical backbreaking labour being carried out.
Once the coal or mineral extracts have been mined from the seams below ground they need to be transported back to the surface. Many modern mines make use of conveyor belts and conveyor systems to perform this task rather than the miners having to drag everything back to the surface by hand. Naturally due to the conditions in a mine any conveyor system has to be very hard wearing and able to operate in harsh condition. This means that the components and types of bearings used in the equipment are specially designed to withstand the heat and various dust and debris that get everywhere. This is also true of the types of bearings that are found in the drilling equipment; mining equipment is no good at all if it breaks down at the first sign of dust so it has to be designed for the specific conditions of the mine.
Accidents and deaths caused by mining still occur but there are fortunately far fewer than there used to be. This is in part due to the fact that many mines now operate as surface mines which involve a large area being dug to expose the deposits and seams so that workers don’t have to be sent below ground to extract them. Even mines which do operate as underground mines are far safer than mines from a hundred years age. Modern mines have electrical power and proper lighting rather than dim gas lamps to illuminate their work. Mines are much safer and more productive as a result of the specialist equipment and machinery that is put to use in them.