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A miner is a person who extracts
ore
Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically containing metals, that can be mined, treated and sold at a profit.Encyclopædia Britannica. "Ore". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 7 April 2 ...
,
coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when dea ...
,
chalk
Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Chalk ...
,
clay
Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4).
Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...
, or other
mineral
In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. ( ...
s from the earth through
mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...
. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock
face
The face is the front of an animal's head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may aff ...
; cutting, blasting, or otherwise working and removing the rock.
In a broader sense, a "miner" is anyone working within a mine, not just a worker at the rock face.
Mining is one of the most dangerous trades in the world. In some countries, miners lack social guarantees and in case of injury may be left to cope without assistance.
In regions with a long mining tradition, many communities have developed cultural traditions and aspects specific to the various regions, in the forms of particular equipment, symbolism, music, and the like.
Roles
Different functions of the individual miner. Many of the roles are specific to a type of mining, such as coal mining.
Roles considered to be "miners" in the narrower sense have included:
*
Hewer
A hewer (german: Hauer or ''Häuer'') is a miner who loosens rock and minerals in a mine. In medieval mining in Europe a ''Hauer'' was the name given to a miner who had passed his test (''Hauerprüfung'') as a hewer.
Training
In Europe in form ...
(also known as "cake" or "pickman"), whose job was to hew the rock.
**Collier, a hewer who hews coal with a
pick.
*Driller, who works a rock drill to bore holes for placing dynamite or other explosives.
Other roles within mines that did not involve breaking rock (and thus fit the broader definition) have included:
*Loader (also called a "bandsman"), who loads the mining carts with coal at the face.
*Putter (also known as a "drags-man"), who works the carts around the mine.
*Barrow-man, who transported the broken coal from the face in wheelbarrows.
*
Hurrier
A hurrier, also sometimes called a coal drawer or coal thruster, was a child or woman employed by a collier to transport the coal that they had mined. Women would normally get the children to help them because of the difficulty of carrying the c ...
, who transported coal carts from a mine to the surface.
*Timbers, who fashions and installs timber supports to support the walls and ceiling in an underground mine.
In addition to miners working in the seam, a
mine
Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to:
Extraction or digging
* Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging
*Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine
Grammar
*Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun
...
employs other workers in duties in the sea. In addition to the office staff of various sorts, these may include:
*Brakesman, who operate the
winding engine
A winding engine is a stationary engine used to control a cable, for example to power a mining hoist at a pit head. Electric hoist controllers have replaced proper winding engines in modern mining, but use electric motors that are also tradition ...
.
*
Breaker boy
A breaker boy was a coal-mining worker in the United StatesHindman, Hugh D. ''Child Labor: An American History.'' Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, 2002. and United Kingdom whose job was to separate impurities from coal by hand in a coal breaker. Altho ...
who removes impurities from coal.
*Emergency Structure Engineer, who makes sure that cave-ins are dealt with when called
Modern miners
Mining engineers
Mining in the engineering discipline is the extraction of minerals from underneath, open pit, above or on the ground. Mining engineering is associated with many other disciplines, such as mineral processing, exploration, excavation, geology, and ...
use the principles of math and science to develop philosophical solutions to technical problems for miners.
In most cases, a bachelor's degree in engineering, mining engineering or geological engineering is required. Because technology is constantly changing, miners and mining engineers need to continue their education.
The basics of mining engineering includes finding, extracting, and preparing minerals, metals and coal. These mined products are used for
electric power
Electric power is the rate at which electrical energy is transferred by an electric circuit. The SI unit of power is the watt, one joule per second. Standard prefixes apply to watts as with other SI units: thousands, millions and billions o ...
generation and manufacturing industries. Mining engineers also supervise the construction of underground mine operations and create ways to transport the extracted minerals to processing plants.
Gallery
File:Keilhaue Bergmann Hammer VEB - BKW - GLÜCKAUF -Träger des Vaterländischen VO in Gold - Betrieb im VE BKK Senftenberg - Lupus in Saxonia Bild 00017.jpg, Ceremony hammer of a miner VEB Kombinat Senftenberg
Senftenberg ( wen, Zły Komorow) is a town in Lower Lusatia, Brandenburg, Germany, capital of the Oberspreewald-Lausitz district.
Geography
Senftenberg is located in the southwest of the historic Lower Lusatia region at the border with Saxony. It ...
(GDR
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
) - with honorary uniform
File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-16800-0004, Bergmann mit Spitzhacke.jpg, A brown coal
Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible, sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35%, and is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low heat ...
miner with a pickaxe
A pickaxe, pick-axe, or pick is a generally T-shaped hand tool used for Leverage (mechanics), prying. Its head is typically metal, attached perpendicularly to a longer handle, traditionally made of wood, occasionally metal, and increasingly ...
. West Germany, 1952
File:Miner in a gallery Potosi (pixinn.net).jpg, Miner in a mine of the "Cerro Rico" at Potosí
Potosí, known as Villa Imperial de Potosí in the colonial period, is the capital city and a municipality of the Department of Potosí in Bolivia. It is one of the highest cities in the world at a nominal . For centuries, it was the location o ...
, Bolivia, 2006
File:Coal miner spraying rock dust.jpg, Miner spraying rockdust
Rock dust is a pulverized rock, usually limestone, sprayed on walls inside underground coal mines to prevent coal dust explosions. The dust acts as a heat sink, keeps coal dust levels down, and also prevents the incidence of black lung disease ...
in a mine in West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...
, 2009
File:Mursko Središće, Trg bana J. Jelačića - spomenik rudaru.jpg, Coal Miner's Memorial in Mursko Središće
Mursko Središće ( hu, Muraszerdahely, Kajkavian: ''Mursko Središče'') is the northernmost town in Croatia, located at ( alt. 175 m) and one of the oldest localities in Međimurje County.
Mursko Središće has a total population of 6,307, and ...
, Croatia
File:Sunshine Mine Disaster.jpg, Sunshine Miners Memorial in Silver Valley, Idaho
File:Mine crew from London Mine standing in a group for a photograph in 1896 - DPLA - f62e038b1cc944e2a09ebad5474adeec (cropped).jpg, alt=London Mine members posing for a group photograph in Park County, Colorado in 1896. , London Mine members posing for a group photograph in Park County, Colorado
Park County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,390. The county seat is Fairplay. The county was named after the large geographic region known as South Park, which was named by early f ...
in 1896.
See also
*
Amateur geology
Amateur geology or rock collecting (also referred to as rockhounding in the United States and Canada) is the non-professional study and hobby of collecting rocks and minerals or fossil specimens from the natural environment.Sinkankas, John. Minera ...
*
Mineral collecting
Mineral collecting is the hobby of systematically collecting, identifying and displaying mineral specimens. Mineral collecting can also be a part of the profession of mineralogy and allied geologic specialties. Individual collectors often spe ...
*
Miner's apron
*
Miner's cap The miner's cap (german: Fahrhaube) is part of the traditional miner's costume. It consists of a white material (linen) and served in the Middle Ages to protect the miner when descending below ground (''unter Tage''). Later it was replaced by the m ...
*
Miner's habit
*
Mining helmet
*
Mooskappe
The ''Mooskappe'' is an old, traditional miners head covering. It was intended to protect miners when working underground from the impact of small rockfalls and from hitting their heads against the gallery roof (''Firste''). The term is German and ...
, miner's cap worn in the Harz
*
Prospecting
Prospecting is the first stage of the geological analysis (followed by exploration) of a territory. It is the search for minerals, fossils, precious metals, or mineral specimens. It is also known as fossicking.
Traditionally prospecting reli ...
*
Salt mining
Salt mining extracts natural salt deposits from underground. The mined salt is usually in the form of halite (commonly known as rock salt), and extracted from evaporite formations.
History
Before the advent of the modern internal combustio ...
*
Underground mining (hard rock)
Underground hard-rock mining refers to various underground mining techniques used to excavate "hard" minerals, usually those containing metals, such as ore containing gold, silver, iron, copper, zinc, nickel, tin, and lead. It also involves the ...
Distinguish from
*
Minor (disambiguation)
Minor may refer to:
* Minor (law), a person under the age of certain legal activities.
** A person who has not reached the age of majority
* Academic minor, a secondary field of study in undergraduate education
Music theory
*Minor chord
** Barb ...
References
{{Authority control
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Resource extraction occupations