Underground mining equipment includes:
- Longwall mining requires both Longwall Cutters and Longwall Mining Roof Support machinery. The coal shearers are mounted onto a self-advancing set of hydraulic supports that hold the ceiling in place. The shearers’ colossal size allows them to cut massive, rectangular chunks, or rooms, of coal out of the seam.
- Roofbolters are miner-mounted, hydraulically driven rigs which install rock bolts.
- The Scoop is a utility vehicle used to haul waste. These may be powered by Diesel or battery.
- Ventilation fans ensure proper air circulation throughout the shaft.
- Room and pillar mining systems rely on electric-powered vehicles with rubber tires. These shuttle cars haul coal from the face to the point in the hauling system. Various vehicles are used to transport personnel and equipment from the surface to the relevant post.
- Rock dusters apply inert rock dust to coal dust to prevent an outbreak of fire when dust is displaced by the blast wave of a nearby explosion.
- The continuous miner machine employs a large, rotating steel drum to scrape coal from the seam, thanks to teeth made of tungsten carbide. This machine is integral to the room and pillar mining system. They can be remotely controlled to mine areas where it would be too difficult or dangerous for humans to work. Increasingly, continuous miners are computer-controlled.
Surface mining equipment includes:
- A highwall miner can mine coal from thirty inches to sixteen feet in thickness. It can penetrate depths of up to one thousand feet. Cutterhead modules are interchangeable, giving the highwall miner a wide variety of applications.
- Blasthole drills are used to bore holes for the insertion of blasting charges.
- Removing dirt to expose minerals is accomplished by draglines. Used in open-pit operations, these gargantuan machines can displace tons upon tons of debris.
- Of course, dozers, haul trucks and loaders are employed across surface mining sites to clear away overburden and perform other essential functions.