Coal Mining Industry

The coal mining industry segment produces coal, awhere the coal is located. Depending on where
fossil fuel that is used primarily for electric powerthe coal seam is in relation to the surface, tunnels
generation and in the production of steel. Like oil,may be vertical, horizontal, or sloping. Entries are
coal is formed over millions of years from plantconstructed so that miners can get themselves
and animal matter, but unlike oil, coal is a solid, andand their equipment to the ore and carry it out,
therefore miners must go into the earth towhile allowing fresh air to enter the mine. Once
recover it. Many coal seams are located close todug to the proper depth, a mine’s tunnels
the surface, however, which makes theinterconnect with a network of passageways
extraction of this resource easier.going in many directions. Using the room-and-pillar
Surface mining of coal typically uses the methodmethod, miners remove sections of the coal as
known as strip mining, which is usually morethey work the coal seam from the tunnel
cost-effective than underground mining andentrance to the edge of the mine property,
requires fewer workers to produce the sameleaving columns of coal in place to help support
quantity of coal. In strip mining, workers use hugethe ceiling together with long steel bolts. This
earthmoving equipment, such as power shovels orprocess is then reversed, and the remainder of
draglines, to scoop off the layers of soil and rockthe ore is extracted, as the miners work their
covering the coal seam. Once the coal is exposed,way back out. In the case of longwall mining of
it is broken up by using explosives, and thencoal, self-advancing roof supports, made of
smaller shovels lift it from the ground and load ithydraulic jacks and metal plates, cover the area
into trucks. Mining companies are required bybeing mined. As coal is removed, the entire
Federal, State, and local laws to restore the minedapparatus advances, allowing the ceiling in the
land after surface mining is completed; as a result,mined area to cave in as the miners work back
the overburden and topsoil are stored aftertowards the tunnel entrance. Underground mining
removal so that they can be replaced and nativedoes not require as extensive a reclamation
vegetation replanted.process as surface mining; however, mine
Underground mining is used when the coal depositoperators and environmental engineers still must
lies deep below the surface of the earth. Whenensure that ground water remains
developing an underground mine, miners first mustuncontaminated and that abandoned mines do not
dig tunnels deep into the earth near the placecollapse.