The GEM of Egypt was a

power shovel A power shovel (also stripping shovel or front shovel or electric mining shovel or electric rope shovel) is a bucket-equipped machine, usually electrically powered, used for digging and loading earth or fragmented rock and for mineral extraction ...

used for

strip mining Surface mining, including strip mining, open-pit mining and mountaintop removal mining, is a broad category of mining in which soil and rock overlying the mineral deposit (the overburden) are removed, in contrast to underground mining, in which ...

. Built in 1966, the machine had worked in the Egypt Valley coalfield, GEM being an acronym for “Giant Earth Mover” or “Giant Excavating Machine”. It was one of only two

Bucyrus-Erie Bucyrus-Erie was an American surface and underground mining equipment company. It was founded as Bucyrus Foundry and Manufacturing Company in Bucyrus, Ohio, in 1880. Bucyrus moved its headquarters to South Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1893. In 1927, B ...

1950-B shovels built and one of two to use the knee action crowd, licensed from Marion Power Shovel in exchange to Marion's use of BE's cable crowd patent.

Operational history

The GEM had a 170' boom and a 130 cubic yard bucket which enabled it to dig roughly 200 tons per 'bite'. The machine began work in January, 1967 for Hanna Coal, and was later purchased by Consolidated Coal in "Little Egypt Valley" near Barnesville, Ohio. The area was also where the GEM got its name. The GEM of Egypt was one of three in the service of the Hanna Coal Company, which by 1970, had been strip mining in Ohio for decades. The other two power shovels were ''The Tiger'' and ''The Mountaineer''. Of the three, the GEM of Egypt was the largest of the power shovels in the Hanna Coal Company, of which it went into service via the official opening of the Egypt Valley mine in January 1967. It was reported that an estimated 25,000 people traveled to the site, many from Ohio cities such as Cleveland, Akron, and Canton, as well as those from neighboring states. The Gem of Egypt was 20 stories tall and weighed 7,000 tons. Production there was expected to average 20,000 tons a day, which the company forecast would last for the next 30 to 40 years until the vein ran out. The machine was parked in 1988 and finally dismantled in 1991 off Ohio SR9 between New Athens and Fairpoint. Parts of the shovel were used to keep its twin,

The Silver Spade The Silver Spade was a giant power shovel used for strip mining in southeastern Ohio. Manufactured by Bucyrus-Erie, South Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the model 1950-B was one of two of this model built, the other being the GEM of Egypt. Its sole functi ...

, operating until it too was retired.

Gallery

File:View inside the Shovel.jpg, View Inside the Shovel File:COAL COMPANY POWER SHOVEL AT WORK STRIP MINING LAND NEAR INTERSTATE 70 AND MORRISTOWN, OHIO - NARA - 555631.jpg, The Tiger, which worked alongside the GEM in July, 1974 over

I-70 Interstate 70 (I-70) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from I-15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to a park and ride lot just east of I-695 in Baltimore, Maryland, and is the fifth-longest Interstate in the co ...

near

Morristown, Ohio Morristown is a village in Belmont County, Ohio, United States. The population was 248 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Wheeling metropolitan area. History Morristown was platted in 1802. The village was named for Duncan Morrison, a pioneer ...

References

Stripping shovels Coal mining in the United States Engineering vehicles Mining in Ohio Bucyrus-Erie {{mining-stub