underground mining
Tunneling for ore
Underground mining extracts minerals or ore from beneath the earth's surface through tunnels, shafts, and chambers.
Unlike open-pit mining, it accesses deposits too deep for surface excavation.
Methods vary by geology—room-and-pillar mining leaves support columns, while longwall mining removes entire seams.
The work is dangerous, with risks from cave-ins, gas, and dust: His grandfather spent thirty years in underground mining.
- ore depositMineable mineral accumulation
- coalCombustible sedimentary rock
- coal seamUnderground fuel deposit layer
- subsidenceGradual ground sinking
- mine collapseUnderground excavation failure
strata · hoist · canary · black lung · adit · hazard assessment · miner · stope · rock drill · pithead · ventilation system · drilling · blasting · fault line · mine shaft · seismic activity · shaft · tunnel
- US Miningcoal miner, prospector, prospecting, mine shaft, open pit
- mininggold, mines, gold mines, mine, coal
- risksrisk, gamble, bet, wager, chance it
- Coal Miningcoal mines, miners, coal seam, coal miners, colliery
- coal industrycoal cars, anthracite, coal chutes, coal dust, coal seam
- gem mininggem cutting, gem quality, rough diamond, rough stones, kimberlite
underground miningopen-pit mining
Surface excavation for minerals
surface mining · strip mining · quarrying · mountaintop removal · dredging