Mining machines and equipment

Machines make mining easier, quicker, and sometimes safer.

Here are some of the machines used in mining:

Surface Mining:

1. Wheel loaders: These are used when a lot of mining materials need to be moved at one time.
2. Excavator: Most surface mines have one of these. This machine is used to do the digging. Usually this machine dumps the materials that it dug up into a dump truck.
3. Dump Trucks: These are used to take away or move materials. You can see how big it is compared to the driver. Sometimes these are called monster trucks because they are so big.
4. Crawler-tractor: Sometimes these are called dozers. Instead of rubber tires, these have chains. Chain tractors are used on land where rubber tires won't work too well-like in mud or on mountain slopes. Dozers push dirt from one place to another. When mines close and they begin to fix the land that has been changed, dozers push dirt and materials where they need to go.
5. Motor grader: These are used to make the ground level when they are clearing off the land for mining or fixing it when they are done.

Underground mining:

1. Articulated Dump Trucks: These are used to move large amounts of material in the mine. They can turn easier inside mines than most trucks can.
2. Continuous miner: This machine is used to cut out long sections of the inside walls of the mine. They use this machine instead of blasting and drilling.
3. Longwall mining equipment: This is used to cut out the coal in layers. Part of the machinery will hold up the roof, too.
4. Shuttle car: These were used to take out the coal or minerals from the mine. The ore or coal was loaded into these to be taken out of the mine. Trucks are used for this in up-to-date mines.

Watch this wonderful video with a sense of history about one famous producers of mining machines.



Task:
After watching the video you are to write a short description of the development of the P&H company, write about the most important stages of the company history.

Mining Words

There are many special words which are used to describe mining methods, machinery, process etc. Theyare called - mining terms. Here we publish the terms and explain them in English. 

For example: 

Deposit - A rock, mineral or gemstone that builds up in the Earth by itself. 

Task

Publish any term used in the materials of this blog and explain it in English. 

Rocks, minerals, gemstones mined with surface mining

The dictionary says that a mineral is:  “a naturally occurring … solid substance having a definite chemical composition and characteristic crystalline structure, color, and hardness.” [American Heritage Dictionary]  This means that minerals are formed by nature and are solid.  They are made up of chemicals that form crystals. They are identified by the characteristics that are in all pieces of the same mineral, no matter where it's found.  Some minerals have just one mineral in them, like gold. 

These are called elements and are on a list called The Periodic Table of Elements

Use these links to read the texts about minerals:

Common minerals and metals: uses and importance
The Earth - nature's storehouse
People and Earth's minerals
Dynamic Earth



Task

Here you should publish the information about the rocks, minerals or gemstones that are mined with surface mining. You should describe the mineral characteristics and your experimental data.

For example:

Alexandrite
Mineral characteristics	Mineralogists views	Your conclusions
Chemical Symbol	BeAl2O4	It has aluminum, beryllium, and oxygen in it.
Color	Green or red	In sunlight/fluorescent light the stone is green. In regular light bulb light or candlelight, the stone is red.
Streak	White	When the stone is rubbed on a white plate, it leaves a white dust. If the stone is crushed, this is what color the powder would be.
Transparency	Transparent to translucent	You can see through some stones and others are blurry to look through.
Luster	Glassy	It shines like glass.
Cleavage	Imperfect	If you break this mineral, it will not split smoothly and evenly.  You can’t break it over and over again and get the same shaped pieces.
Fracture	Conchoidal	The stone has a smooth, shell-like surface when it is broken.
Magnetism	None	It will not attract or be attracted to a magnet.
Hardness	8.5	The stone is hard. It will scratch the streak plate that you test it on.  It would also scratch a nail!
Specific gravity	3.5	If you held it, this stone would seem a little bit heavier than its size would make you think it would be.
Crystal shape	Orthorhombic

We start the first topic "Surface Mining"

Surface mining is mining minerals, gemstones and rocks that are close to the surface of the land. There are different ways to do this and the mining company decides which way will cost them less money. The ways to do the surface mining are:

Hydraulic Mining
Mountaintop removal Mining
Open pit Mining
Placer Mining
Quarrying
Strip Mining

Video about the hydraulic mining:

Video about mountaintop removal mining:

Video about open pit mining:

Video about open placer mining:

Task

1. Choose one way of the surface mining (which you are mostly interested in), read the information about it and wach the videos.
2. Answer the following questions:
1. What did hydraulic mining originate out?
2. When and how did the modern form of the hydraulic mining appear?
3. What kind of problems appeared by the widespread use of the hydraulic mining method?
4. What machines are used in mountaintop removal mining?
5. What are the other names for open pit mining
6. What is placer mining frequently used for?
7. Can you write some examples of the types of the rock extracted from quarries?
8. What kind of rock origin can be strip mining applied to?