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"?Â
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!
It's a basic industry term. If you're "running coal," you're simply coal mining.
Advertisement
The working face is the place were miners are scrambling for their precious prize. It's were the activity reaches a frenzied pace.
Advertisement
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
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 "roof."
Advertisement
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
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
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
The "drift" is the coal mine's tunnels. In some large mines, the drift runs on for miles and miles underground.
Advertisement
The jumbo is the machine that drills into the working face. Without the jumbo, the drift wouldn't extend very far.
Advertisement
In a mine, it's not called a "floor." Any flood (or just the ground) in a mine is the "bench."
Advertisement
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
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
Tailings are the leftovers. They're the minerals and rock that have no economic value compared to the coal ore.
Advertisement
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
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
"Old Harry's down there 'saving the mine.'" That guy is way too serious about the job … and himself.
Advertisement
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
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 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
Airways are obviously critical for ventilation in a mine. They're also called "air courses."
Advertisement
Every part of a coal mine tunnel has unique terms. The "ribs" are the side walls of a tunnel, or drift.
Advertisement
Miners work hard all day to get at precious ore. But gangue -- worthless minerals -- are often part of the job's exasperation.
Advertisement
Muckers are vital mining equipment. Muckers, or scoops, are the the big bulldozers that get the muck (rock) out of the way.
Advertisement
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
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
Sometimes when blasting the working face, there are leftover explosives. These are called "bootleg."
Advertisement
The "metal" prefix is the giveaway. Metallurgical coal is used to make steel, and as such, it's a valuable commodity.
Advertisement
In certain parts of the mine, the ore is tapped out. So miners stuff the "gob" with waste rock and forget about it.
Advertisement
"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