Only a Coal Miner Will Know the Meaning of All These Words

By: John Miller
Estimated Completion Time
2 min
Only a Coal Miner Will Know the Meaning of All These Words
Image: shutterstock

About This Quiz

It's a dirty job, but somebody's gotta do it. Along with oil and natural gas, coal is one of the most energy-packed sources of fuel in the world, keeping power plants running at high speed. In this black-smeared quiz, you'll get to demonstrate how much you really know about coal mining terms.

Coal mining laborers and their supervisors have an extensive list of terms -- official and otherwise -- that they use to share information on the job. Who else would really know about "pillar robbing" and "roof fall"? How about "secondary roof" and "shortwall"? 

Take the manway to the drift mouth and see if there are any issues with the air course! Otherwise, there might be heck to pay with MSHA. And while you're up there, check out the nip and the jackleg that malfunctioned yesterday. Do you know what any of these sentences really mean in the coal mining world?

Let's find out about your stripping ratio from your tail section. Dig in the undercut of this fascinating coal mining term quiz now!



What does it mean if you're "running coal"?
You're coal mining.
You're setting the mine buildings on fire.
You're smuggling coal across the border.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

It's a basic industry term. If you're "running coal," you're simply coal mining.

Advertisement

What's a term for a place where mining is actively occurring?
black hole
working face
the pit of doom
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The working face is the place were miners are scrambling for their precious prize. It's were the activity reaches a frenzied pace.

Advertisement

What word would describe a structure where miners find a lot of ore?
heart
vein
artery
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

It's the best thing mine owers can hear -- the news of a particularly large vein of coal ore. Those veins are the lifeblood of the mine.

Advertisement

Particularly rich ore is called _____ ore.
diamond
black
high-grade
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

In coal mining, not all ore is the same. Really rich, high-value ore is called high-grade ore … and it's the stuff that can make mine executives rich.

Advertisement

In a mine, it's not really a ceiling. Instead, miners call it the ______.
jumper
roof
snaggle
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

In a mine, it's not really a ceiling. Instead, miners call it the "roof."

Advertisement

What's another word for the ceiling in a coal mine?
back
molars
trip
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

When you're underground, you call the ceiling (or the roof) the "back." Hopefully the back will never come crashing down on your head.

Advertisement

What's a term for an entryway to an underground mine?
slump
adit
death's door
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

An adit is the entrance to an underground mine. In most cases, it refers to entryways that are horizontal, often located at the lowest possible level on a hill to make ore extraction easier.

Advertisement

What's "muck"?
the remains of old miners
rock
oil
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

In a coal mine, rocks are "muck." You have to get the muck out of the way in order to get to the good stuff.

Advertisement

What's a word for a coal mine's tunnels?
fence
drift
slip
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The "drift" is the coal mine's tunnels. In some large mines, the drift runs on for miles and miles underground.

Advertisement

What's the machine that drills the face?
kill zone
jumbo
Godzilla
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The jumbo is the machine that drills into the working face. Without the jumbo, the drift wouldn't extend very far.

Advertisement

What's the "bench"?
a strip of coal laced with gold
the floor in a mine
a tool belt
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

In a mine, it's not called a "floor." Any flood (or just the ground) in a mine is the "bench."

Advertisement

What's the name for a machine that breaks rocks down into smaller sizes?
bulldozer
lifter
crusher
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Crushers are big, powerful machines that literally break rocks from the mine into smaller pieces. They help miners extract as much valuable ore from the rock as possible.

Advertisement

What's one term for an open pit mine?
glory hole
fields of adulation
happy place
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Glory holes are open pit mines, ones that use gravity to drop ore through vertical raises. The raises intersect with a horizontal passageway that leads back to the surface, so it works best on big hillsides.

Advertisement

What's the stuff that's left over after coal has been extracted from minerals?
junk
tailings
slop
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Tailings are the leftovers. They're the minerals and rock that have no economic value compared to the coal ore.

Advertisement

What's the purpose of a "raise"?
to bury muck
to provide mine ventilation
to get higher wages, finally!
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

A "raise" is a vertical drift, or tunnel. In most coal mines, a raise is used to provide ventilation for the drift far underground.

Advertisement

How do mine executive's feel about "binder"?
They don't like it.
They are indifferent to it.
They love it!
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Binder refers to impurities within a seam of coal. As such, the bosses don't like it much because it doesn't make them any money.

Advertisement

What does is mean if someone is "saving the mine"?
They work for the EPA.
They take themselves way too seriously.
They are picketing.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Old Harry's down there 'saving the mine.'" That guy is way too serious about the job … and himself.

Advertisement

What's the term for waste rock that's often used to support the roof of a coal mine?
royalty
backfill
bed
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

After the coal is extracted, miners are often left with leftover waste rock. They can use that stuff as backfill to keep the mine's roof from collapsing.

Advertisement

What's another name for an open-pit mine?
blacked-out
closed-raise
open-cast
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Open-pit mines are often called open-cast or open-cut mines. They're the mines that often draw the ire of environmentalists who say these mines are much harder to reclaim once closed.

Advertisement

In the old days, what did it mean if you "broke your pick"?
You got frustrated.
You struck gold.
You were married.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

In the hardship and agony of early mining, it was easy to become downcast. If you "broke your pick," you were exasperated because of your exhaustion or lack of success.

Advertisement

An airway is also called _____.
floodway
air course
gas transfer
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Airways are obviously critical for ventilation in a mine. They're also called "air courses."

Advertisement

What would you call the side walls of a drift?
rib
liver
punch
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Every part of a coal mine tunnel has unique terms. The "ribs" are the side walls of a tunnel, or drift.

Advertisement

What's one word for the worthless minerals often found in ore deposits?
slappy
gangue
rock poo
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Miners work hard all day to get at precious ore. But gangue -- worthless minerals -- are often part of the job's exasperation.

Advertisement

A mucker is basically a _____.
product of coal ore
bulldozer
mine explosion
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Muckers are vital mining equipment. Muckers, or scoops, are the the big bulldozers that get the muck (rock) out of the way.

Advertisement

What's an old term for someone who slacks off while everyone else works very hard?
Johnny
tough guy
cackler
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

In the olden days, "cacklers" were deserving of derision. They were the guys who picked their noses while everyone else was getting their hands dirty.

Advertisement

What's a type of percussion drill used in mining?
jackleg
jimmyarm
tomface
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

A "jackleg" is a type of percussion drill used to access ore. It's one of the most common tools you'll find at a mine.

Advertisement

What's "bootleg"?
leftover explosives in the face
a huge crushing machine
drinking booze on the job
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Sometimes when blasting the working face, there are leftover explosives. These are called "bootleg."

Advertisement

What is "metallurgical" coal often used to make?
pesticides
steel
magic spells
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The "metal" prefix is the giveaway. Metallurgical coal is used to make steel, and as such, it's a valuable commodity.

Advertisement

What's a term for the tunnel where all of the waste rock is stored?
loaf
gob
brak
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

In certain parts of the mine, the ore is tapped out. So miners stuff the "gob" with waste rock and forget about it.

Advertisement

What's "deadwork"?
toxic tailings
the most dangerous mining jobs
the effort that goes into simply accessing ore deposits
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Deadwork" is all of the energy expended just to get access to precious ore. "Productive work" is the work that actually brings the valuable stuff back out for processing.

Advertisement

You Got:
/30
shutterstock