mine shaft
Vertical ore access
A mine shaft is a vertical or steeply inclined passage providing access to an underground mine.
Shafts allow miners, equipment, and ore to move between the surface and the tunnels below.
They may contain elevators, ladders, or hoisting systems: The elevator descended the mine shaft for nearly a mile.
Abandoned mine shafts pose hazards in former mining regions.
- headframeMine shaft superstructure
- pit headMine entrance structure
- rescue teamGroup saving endangered people
- underground tunnelEnclosed passage below ground
- catacombUnderground cemetery passage
tunnel · cage · crypt · stope · canary · underground · black lung disease · skip · kibble · hoist · excavation · deep · pit · ventilation systems · ore · ore cart · gold · coal
- US Miningprospector, prospecting, open pit, smelting, refining
- gold mininggold pan, pan, panning, nuggets, gold nugget
- mininggold, mines, gold mines, coal, oil
- Old Westcowboy, cowboys, cowgirl, sheriff, sheriffs
- extractionexcavation, distillation, filtration, extraction, drilling
- frontier towngeneral store, saloon, sheriff's office, livery stable, hitching post
vertical direction
mine shafttower
Tall slender edifice
skyscraper · spire · smokestack · steeple · minaret
subterranean vs. aerial
mine shaftrooftop
Building's top exterior surface
mountaintop · treetop · observation deck · summit · peak