Heavy-duty machinery and tools help miners acquire all resources at mining sites. Here are some common types of mining equipment and tools found at a jobsite.
Various Mining Methods
Before discussing mining equipment, let’s understand two distinct mining categories: underground and surface mining. Surface mining extracts minerals under the earth’s surface, while underground mining excavates materials not traditionally found through surface mining.
Surface mining incorporates several methods: strip mining, open pit mining, placer mining, in-situ leach mining, and quarrying. Underground mining uses the following methods:
- Block caving
- Retreat mining
- Blast mining
- Drift and fill
- Cut and fill
- Room and pillar mining
- Sublevel caving
- Longwall mining
- Shrinkage stope mining
Common Mining Equipment
For better safety and understanding, let’s learn about the common types of mining equipment used during mining projects.
Mining PPE
Miners should always wear personal protective equipment (PPE) to prevent injuries and accidents. It keeps workers safe without hindering their productivity. Bodily protective gear, such as reflective clothing, eyewear, headwear, hearing protection, and air respirator systems, can protect the body from fallen debris and harmful chemicals in the air.
Miners should also have fall protection, detection solutions, cap lights, self-rescuers, miners’ pouches, and protective communications to stay in contact with other workers. They must protect themselves from visibility issues and prevent injuries from falling.
Mining Tools
Every miner should carry and know how to use essential hand tools. These include shovels, chisels, pickaxes, and hammers to make their way through the surface and underground excavation.
Surface Mining Equipment
Surface mining involves heavy-duty equipment to dig up rigid materials with ease. Blasthole drills, graders, dragline excavators, wheel tractor scrapers, mining trucks, and other equipment transports debris. Mining is one of the many industries that use rigging equipment. It helps employees move heavy materials safely and efficiently.
Underground Mining Equipment
Underground mining requires workers to use equipment to dig through extraordinarily dense materials and make pathways and tunnels. Some equipment includes crane lifts, jumbo drills, loaders and haulers, rock dusters, scoopers, and drones. Ventilation systems and shuttle cars make employee transportation safe and prevent debris inhalation.
The mining industry is full of reliable workers who perform strenuous tasks and use complex tools to retrieve resources from the earth. Experience and knowledge will guarantee jobs are completed correctly while mining.
