Common Equipment Used at a Mining Site

Our society relies on the mining sector to a large extent to function smoothly. Over the years, the mining sector has witnessed immense development to meet the demands of the ever-growing population. Industry leaders believe that many types of equipment are used to minimize human labor and save time during mining processes. Common pieces of equipment that are used include:

Excavators

Shovels and steam shovels are traditional tolls that were used by miners to break and remove soil. However, in modern days, people started relying more on excavators. Excavators are a type of mobile vehicle placed on tracks and they move from one place to another on them with the support of standard wheels. Attached to it is a hinged arm that has a bucket or scoop attached.

Draglines

These are enormous machines that are used by miners for dragging away dirt from the earth and uncover the underlying layer of coal or mineral deposits. The draglines are one of the largest machines known to humans that are used to remove several hundred tons of material at one go.

Drills

Drills are very commonly used at mining sites. These are used to extract natural gas and oil commonly as they can easily reach the underground deposits before resources are piped to the surface. Drills are used by miners for creating holes on the surface that are filled with explosives to blast away chunks of earth.

Roof Bolters And Longwall Miners

Small tunnels are created underground at mining sites. To support tunnel roofs and prevent them from collapsing, roof bolters are used. These are large, hydraulically-powered machines designed for putting bolts into roofs. Longwall miners are used to remove large and rectangular sections of coal and not scraping it off from a bed bit-by-bit.

Rock Duster

The chances of a fire hazard are always high at a mining site. Proper precautions need to be taken at all times to ensure the safety of all the people working at the site. To make sure that highly flammable coal dust does not catch fire, rock dusters are used by the coal miners to spray inert mineral dust. This ensures safety and prevents accidental fires and explosions at all times.

Shuttle Cars and Scoops

Transporting materials from one place to another safely is very important. Coalminers use electric shuttle cars for transporting coal from one place to another point in the mine. Outside a specific perimeter, miners use standard scoops, or other types of vehicles to drive the materials outside the boundaries of the mine. There are various types of haulage vehicles used by miners according to leading groups such as KCT & Bros.(Coal Sales) Ltd.