Underground Mining

There are five types of underground mining: drift mining, shaft mining, room & pillar mining, continuous mining, & long wall mining.

Drift mining is when the mine enters a seam that intersects the surface and goes at a horizontal direction following coal. This is an easy cheap way to mine; but, It can only be done when the situation is right to do so and there is a good chance of roof collapses.



Shaft mining is when an elevator provides access to the mine and an elevator provides a away for the coal to come out. This is good to get all the coal you need, but they can get very deep. This is bad for water and the hot temperatures you can get from being so deep



Room & pillar mining is when pillars of coal keep the roof up for miners to mine the rest of the coal leaving half of the coal behind.



 Continuous mining is when a miner operates a continuous mining machine to mine the coal. This is a highly efficient way to mine.



 Long wall mining is the most efficient mining technique. It is when huge mining machines support the roof with hydraulics and once the coal is removed, the machine retreats leaving behind the coal.