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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 Apr ...

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 ...

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. Ch ...

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. (2 ...

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 ...

. 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 for ...

(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 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 tradit ...

. *

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 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) - 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 prying. Its head is typically metal, attached perpendicularly to a longer handle, traditionally made of wood, occasionally metal, and increasingly fiberglass. A stand ...

. West Germany, 1952 File:Miner in a gallery Potosi (pixinn.net).jpg, Miner in a mine of the "Cerro Rico" at Potosí, 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 B ...

, 2009 File:Mursko Središće, Trg bana J. Jelačića - spomenik rudaru.jpg, Coal Miner's Memorial in Mursko Središće, 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.

Distinguish from

* Minor (disambiguation)

References

{{Authority control + Resource extraction occupations

Roles

Modern miners

Gallery

See also

Distinguish from

References