What are the risks associated with underground mining?
It’s wise for an investor to understand both the basic workings for an underground mine and the risks associated with underground mining. A bad mine disaster may not only kill miners; it can also bankrupt companies and close mines permanently. The two main types of underground mine are named for the type of rock the minerals are hosted in:
Is underground mining still profitable today?
Today, while underground mining is still laborious and dangerous, it is both extremely productive and extremely profitable. Is There a Need for Underground Mining? Over the decades, the demand for resources and raw materials has grown dramatically.
Are old mines more dangerous than new mines?
Old historic mines are often more dangerous than newer ones. When I worked underground in Australia in the 1980’s (a mine still in production), there were upper levels, which were either not mapped, or for which the maps had been lost.
Are miners at risk of poisoning?
Miners who work underground often use diesel machines to carry out their work. If the ventilation is insufficient this can result in poisoning. There are more toxic materials to consider, including aerosols, blasting fumes, dust, and gases that are released from the rock.
How dangerous is working at an underground mine?
Working in coal mines is dangerous — miners have to deal with toxic gases, plus the threat of being crushed, drowned, or injured from fires and explosions. Some miners love it. It can be a family tradition, it's exciting, and the pay is usually pretty good.
What type of mining is the most dangerous?
coal miningStatistically, coal mining remains more dangerous than other kinds of mining, but only slightly. According to the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration, the rate of coal-mining deaths in the United States between 2001 and 2005 was 0.15 per million production hours.
Is underground mining safer?
Greater Safety Open-pit mining is much safer than shaft mining. In underground mining, the threat of a cave-in or release of toxic gas is a constant concern. When shaft mining was the most common method of ore extraction, thousands died in cave-ins, gas events and accidents involving equipment.
Is mining the most dangerous job?
Coal mining Coal has historically been one of the most dangerous industries to work in. While conditions have improved significantly over the years, thousands of workers still die each year due to poor regulations and diseases caused by inhalation of toxic gases and dust produced in the mining process.
How do miners breathe underground?
The concept is known as “flow through” ventilation: air is sucked into a shaft underground by fans on the surface, while extractors at the top of the mine drag the air back out. As it passes through the various passageways of the mine it brings with it the fresh supply of oxygen.
What are the worlds most dangerous jobs?
Below, we'll share with you what the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) deems the most dangerous work according to fatality rate.Fishing and Hunting Workers. ... Logging Workers. ... Roofers. ... Construction Workers. ... Aircraft pilots and Flight Engineers. ... Refuse Waste and Recyclable Material Collectors.More items...•
What do miners wear for safety?
Mineworkers wearing full safety clothing of helmet, gloves, boots, protective padding etc will be able to address many dangers before and after an accident.
How can miners stay safe?
Mining Safety Tips include providing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) s to all workers who may come in contact with chemicals, with safe handling procedures established throughout the company.
What disease do miners suffer from?
Occupational dermatitis is a major cause of disability in miners.
What job has highest death rate?
Fishing and hunting workers had the highest fatal injury rate at 132.1, which is lower than its 2019 rate of 145.0. The above are the 34 deadliest jobs in America, ranked by their 2020 fatality rates per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers.
What is the safest job in the world?
accountant/auditorAccording to research by US jobs site CareerCast.com, accountant/auditor is the world's safest job – although with an average salary of $67,190 (£51,878), it's far from the most lucrative "safe" job.
Do miners still get black lung?
Today, not only do coal miners still suffer from this lethal but preventable lung disease, they do so at younger ages, some even in their thirties, and they are contracting the most advanced form of black lung at the highest rates ever recorded.
How mining industry is dangerous?
Mines are often home to many dangerous gases including carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, methane, and carbon dioxide. Due to the confined spaces, these gases are not always able to escape, building up within the mine. And due to their combustible, explosive, or toxic qualities, this is a very serious issue.
Is coal mining still dangerous?
Coal mining is a relatively dangerous industry. Employees in coal mining are more likely to be killed or to incur a non-fatal injury or illness, and their injuries are more likely to be severe than workers in private industry as a whole, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Which type of mining is more dangerous to miners and the environment quizlet?
Surface mines are the most damaging to the environment, because they cause the greatest amount of change to the land. Surface mines involve the removal of earth to extract minerals, often leaving a gaping hole behind.
Why are coal mines dangerous?
Open cut hazards are principally mine wall failures and vehicle collisions; underground mining hazards include suffocation, gas poisoning, roof collapse, rock burst, outbursts, and gas explosions. Firedamp explosions can trigger the much-more-dangerous coal dust explosions, which can engulf an entire mine.
What happens if a mine disaster happens?
A bad mine disaster may not only kill miners; it can also bankrupt companies and close mines permanently. The two main types of underground mine are named for the type of rock the minerals are hosted in: hard rock; and. soft rock.
What is hard rock mining?
Hard Rock Mines. Underground mining terminology and layout. Image: CC. Hard rock mines include most metal and diamond mines. They tend to be deep, and the orebody is often steeply inclined (or dipping). Shafts can be as a deep as several kilometres. Access from the surface is via a shaft or a decline. There is a variety of mining methods used, ...
How is ore mined?
How an ore-body is mined is complex and the main factors include: 1 geometry – is the orebody flat or dipping, solid or lenticular; 2 grade of the orebody – will all the ore be taken, or is mining selective, only chasing the higher-grade sections; 3 strength of the ore and the surrounding host rocks – how much support is required once ore is removed; 4 how easily will the ore break.
What are the basic mining techniques?
Standard mining techniques include: cut and fill or drift and fill; ore is mined and the stope filled with tailings, raising the level of the mining. shrinkage stoping – similar to cut and fill except ...
How many coal mines have been destroyed in the US since 1976?
According to the US mine Rescue Association, of the 17 disasters in US mines since 1976, all but one has occurred in coal mines. Of those 16 accidents, 13 involved explosions, one was fire, one was oxygen-deficient air, and one was a stockpile collapse. Or in other words, mine ventilation is critical, particularly for coal mines.
Why is mine level unmapped?
An unmapped, un-monitored level of a mine is dangerous because the dirt on the floor can be concealing a wooden or other cover to a deep winze (minor shaft from a level). Old mine workings are always propped by wood, and wood rots, so minor local collapses are to be expected.
How wide is a longwall mine?
The most common mining method is longwall mining which is largely automated using a self-advancing coal shearer including hydraulic roof supports 150-250m wide 1.5 -3m high extract panels roof collapses as machine withdrawals. This is the safest way to mine coal and shale as it requires no blasting in a potentially explosive environment.
How does underground mining affect the environment?
Like with open pit mines, one of the problems associated with this mining is water pollution, especially in older or abandoned mines. As rainwater and groundwater flow into and fill an old mineshaft, chemicals and contaminants present in the now-exposed rock faces begin to leach out and contaminate the surrounding water table.
What do you need to know about underground mining?
It is one of humanity's oldest and most impressive engineering activities, extracting an ore or mineral from many hundreds of feet deep underground. From the days of laborers toiling deep inside narrow, rickety and ill-supported tunnels using crude pickaxes ...
What are the health effects of mining?
Long-term health is another factor to keep in mind. Continuous exposure to the mineral dust created by mining rock and ore can lead to a host of respiratory issues later in life, such as lung cancer, pneumococcal disease and the dreaded 'black lung' often associated with coal mining.
How long has underground mining been around?
Underground mining has a very long history, dating back thousands of years. Unskilled peasants and laborers would mine by torchlight in conditions that today would be considered hazardous and barbaric, and what equipment there was would be primitive and crude by today's standards.
What is the oldest underground mine in the world?
Interesting Facts about Underground Mining. The oldest known mine in the world is the Ngwenya Mine, located in modern-day Swaziland. The paleolithic humans who once lived there mined hematite, with which they used to make red ochre. Archeological evidence indicates that the mine is roughly 43,000 years old.
What were the processes involved in underground mining?
The processes involved in underground mining remained relatively unchanged until the advent of the Industrial Age, where steam engines, electricity, and advances in metallurgy and geology have allowed for the possibility of greater yields and more efficient mining practices.
How many people died in the 2010 methane explosion?
For example in 2010, a methane explosion in an underground mine in West Virginia led to the tragic deaths of twenty-nine workers. That same year, a mining disaster in Chile left 33 miners trapped for over two months deep underground until they were rescued. Long-term health is another factor to keep in mind.
What are the dangers of mining?
Renowned as one of the most dangerous jobs in the world - and for good reason. Cave-ins, explosions, toxic air, and extreme temperatures are some of the most perilous hazards observed to take place in underground mining. Valuable minerals are found all over the world.
How much of the world's mining industry is fatal?
FACT: Although the mining industry employs only 1% of the global labour force, it generates 8% of all fatal accidents. Over the years mining has become much safer. Numerous measures have been, and are being, put in place to improve the safety of the miners and improve the environment in which they work.
How to prevent methane explosions?
The best prevention to avoid methane explosions is high-quality mine ventilation solutions. Quality mine ventilation provides a flow of air through the required areas of the mine, which dilutes and removes any build-up of dangerous gases leaving safe and breathable air.
What are the effects of mining on air quality?
Poor Air Quality In Mines. Not only are gases in mines a hazard for explosions, but gases along with other contaminants in the air - dust and fumes - can have a serious effect on the air quality that the miners breathe.
What gas is used in mines?
The most common gas to cause underground mine explosions is methane. Methane is a colourless, odourless, highly flammable, and highly explosive noxious gas that occurs naturally and gets trapped in coal layers.
How many miners died in the mine disaster?
FACT: The worst mine disaster to take place in Europe was directly caused by methane and dust. 1,099 miners were killed in Northern France on March 10, 1906.
What gases are mines prone to?
Mines are often home to many dangerous gases including carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, methane, and carbon dioxide.
Hard Rock Mines
Soft Rock Mines
- Soft rock mines are predominantly coal and shale mines. Here, the rock and the minerals are softer and easier to break up, but the roof requires more support. The most common mining method is longwall mining which is largely automated using a self-advancing coal shearer including hydraulic roof supports 150-250m wide 1.5 -3m high extract panels roof collapses as …
Mining Risks
- A serious disastercan close a mine permanently. In the 2010 New Zealand’s Pike River Coal Mine disaster, not only killed 29 of the 31 miners underground, but also saw charges of manslaughter against mine management. It also bankrupted the mining company and the mine is unlikely to re-open. In the same year, an explosion at Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia Massey Energy’…
Ventilation
- Ensuring adequate ventilation is crucial in any mine, even more so in coal mines where the build-up of methane and other explosive and toxic gases is an on-going issue. Fortunately modern technology means that canaries used in Victorian coal mines as early warnings are now replaced by carbon monoxide gas detectors. Interesting fact – the last canaries were made redundant fro…
Other Underground Mining Risks
- Old historic mines are often more dangerous than newer ones. When I worked underground in Australia in the 1980’s(a mine still in production), there were upper levels, which were either not mapped, or for which the maps had been lost. Although the famous silver mines of Potosi, Bolivia, closed down officially some 150 years ago, to this day locals ...