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Term

Description

AA AA

Always afloat, always accessible.

ABANDONED WORKINGS

Sections, panels and other areas that are not ventilated and examined in the manner required for work places.

ACTIVE WORKINGS

Any place in a mine where miners are normally required to work or travel.

ADIT

A nearly horizontal passage from the surface by which an underground mine is entered.

ADVANCE

Exploitation in the same direction or order of sequence as development is known as mining in advance.

AFFREIGHTMENT

Comes from French, and means "the hiring of a ship to carry cargo,". This term describes "a contract of carriage" and is less frequently used today. Rather, such a contract is now more simply reffered to as a "charter". However, modern shipping terminology has assigned a specific meaning to a "Contract of Affreightment" (COA). A COA refers to a contract to move a (large) volume of cargo over an agreed period of time.

AFTERDAMP

Atmospheric pollution following fire or explosion (usually lethal).

AIR

Ventilation air current.

AIR COURSE

A passage through which air is circulated.

ADB

Air Dried Basis.

AIR LOCK

The passage, closed at both ends by stoppings with doors, connecting two airways along which currents of air having different pressures are flowing.

AIR SHAFT

A shaft used exclusively for conducting air.

AIR SPLIT

The division of a current of air into two or more parts.

AIRWAY

Underground passageway along which air passes.

ALLIGATOR

Wheeled skip running on a steep incline - self-unloading on surface.

Always accessible

Empowers the charterer to send the vessel to ports where the vessel can be reached for the purpose of handling cargo or carrying out activities with the shore as required.

Always Afloat

An "always safely afloat" clause is inserted in the charterparty for the purpose of preventing a vessel from being ordered to berth where it cannot load/discharge without touching the ground or discharging part of its cargo prior to berthing.

ANEMOMETER

Instrument for measuring air velocity.

ANFO

Ammonium Nitrate mixed with fuel oil for an explosive.

ANGLE OF REPOSE

The maximum angle from horizontal at which a given material will rest on a given surface without sliding or rolling.

ANTHRACITE

Coals with a volatile-carbon ratio equal to 0.12 or less. It has a bright black lustre and is coal of the highest rank.

ANTICLINAL AXIS

The ridge of an anticline.

ANTICLINE

Upwards-arched fold in the rock strata resulting from horizontal pressure. Usually the beds dip outwards in two or more directions from the crest.

APPARATUS

Rescue work from coal mine fires and explosions.

APPARENT STEEL PRODUCTION

The term applied to measure the crude steel production (expressed in terms of crude steel equivalents which adjusts for processing losses during production of crude steel) of a country after adding back the crude steel equivalent tonnage of imported steel minus crude steel equivalent tonnage of exported steel.

AQUIFER

A water-bearing bed of porous rock, often sandstone.

ARA

Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Antwerp.

ARCH

A steel support of two or three sections which, when bolted together, form a strong permanent support.

ARCHING

Fracture processes around a mine opening, leading to stabilisation by an arching effect.

ASSESSMENT LEASE

Title granted under the Mining Act 1992 to allow exploration and the retention of rights in a coal resource until a mining lease is granted.

ASH

Inorganic residue after incineration of coal.

ASH ANALYSIS

Expresses the composition of ash in terms of its oxides.

AUGER

A rotary drill for soft materials that uses a screw device to penetrate, break and then transport the drilled material. Auger-type devices are popular in soft coal. To aid penetration and decrease wear on the auger rods, a hard- faced bit is used at the contact between drill and fresh material.

AUGER MINE

A system of mining that involves the use of a large diameter scroll drill to recover coal near seam outcrops or in open-cut mines where the strip ratio exceeds economic limits.

AUXILIARY FAN

Used in conjunction with air ducting to direct a portion of the main ventilating current to the working face.

AUXILIARY VENTILATION

Portion of main ventilating current directed to face of dead- end entry by means of an auxiliary fan and tubing.

AVERAGE CONCENTRATION

A determination which accurately represents the atmospheric conditions with regard to respirable dust to which each miner in the active workings of a mine is exposed.

BACK END

Side section of the coal face remaining after the centre section has been shot out by explosive.

BACK ENTRY

An entry that is back from the working face.

BACK HOLES

Roof holes of a round of shots (see "Backs").

BACK OVER

Rail siding or set of prints where normal direction of travel has to be reversed to enter.

BACK PRIMED

When the priming charge of a shot is placed at the back or bottom of the shothole.

BACK TO BACK

A double plug receptacle for joining two miner cables together.

BACKS

Roof of inclined driveages such as a cross measure drift.

BACKWARDATION

When a derivative instrument (future or swap) price is below the expected future spot price.

BAIT TIN

See "Crib Can".

BALER

See "Water Baler".

BALK/BAULK

Squared, round or half round timber beam set across roadway for roof support.

BALL ROOM

Large space left following unusually high fall of roof.

BAND

Slate or rock interstratified with coal. Also called "slate band", "sulphur band",etc.

BANK

(1) Surface where the cages in a shaft come to rest. (2) The main haulage way.

BANK TO BANK

From surface to surface: A period of work (shift) is measured from the time the underground employees enter the mine at the bank until they return to the bank.

BANKSMAN

Person in charge of the operation of the cage(s) at the shaft top.

BAR

A round, half-round cross-sectioned wooden roof support which is set in contact with the roof and held in position by props, roof bolts, or both.

BAR DOWN

To lever loose material from the roof to make it safe.

Bareboat Charter or demise charter

It is an agreement whereby a vessel owner leases out the ship for an agreed period to a demise charterer�. The charterers obtain complete control, possession and manage the ship as if they were the owner. The actual registered ownership remains with the owner. Bareboat charters were not in common use before the 1970s. It was not until 1974 that BIMCO (the Baltic and International Maritime Council, Denmark) published two standard forms. More recently these forms have been amalgamated to create the current form known as BARECON 89.

Barge Loader

A port facility where coal barges are loaded.

BARRICADE

To obstruct passage of persons, vehicles or flying materials.

BARRICADING

Enclosing part of a mine to prevent inflow of noxious gases from a mine fire or an explosion

BARRIER

Block of coal left unworked in a mine as: (1) protection against flooding, fire, gas or other danger; (2) a division of a mine into separate ventilating districts; (3) a boundary between mines.

BATTER

The slope on the side of cuttings or on dump or walls.

BE or Bends

Both Ends. This is an expression commonly used when negotiating for the chartering of a vessel, in the context that arrangements agreed upon apply at both the loading and discharging port(s).

BEAM

A bar or straight girder used to support a span of roof between two support props or walls.

BEAM BUILDING

The creation of a strong, inflexible beam by bolting or otherwise fastening together several weaker layers. In coal mining this is the intended basis for roof bolting.

BEARING PLATE

A plate used to distribute a given load. In roof bolting, the plate used between the bolt head and the roof.

BED

Stratum of coal or other sedimentary deposit.

BELL WIRES

Electric signal or control wires on belt conveyor, roperoad or incline.

BELT EXTENSION

A job of adding lengths of structure to a conveyor belt to move its receiving point inbye.

BELT HEAD

Location of belt head pulley.

BELT IDLER

A roller, usually of cylindrical shape, which is supported on a frame and which, in turn, supports or guides a conveyor belt. Idlers are not powered but turn by reason of contact with the moving belt.

BELT MAN

A person who operates or maintains the belt.

BELT OR BELT CONVEYOR

A looped belt on which coal or other materials can be carried and which is generally constructed of flame-resistant material or of reinforced rubber or rubber-like substance.

BELT RETRACTION

A job of removing lengths of structure from a conveyor belt to move its termination point outbye.

BELT TAKE-UP

A belt pulley, generally under a conveyor belt and inbye the drive pully, kept under strong tension parallel to the belt line. Its purpose is to automatically compensate for any slack in the belting created by start-up, etc.

BENCH

(1) When a high wall becomes too high for safety a bench is used to act as a buffer for falling rocks. (2) To advance a sinking shaft by taking rounds first from one side of the shaft and then from the other.

BERM

A pile or mound of material capable of restraining a vehicle. Or a horizontal interval between two benches in a high wall wide enough to contain any falling objects (also called safety berm or safety bench)

BEST

Large coal (as loaded into rail trucks etc.).

Bill of Lading

Document indicating a) cargo receipt prepared by shipper and signed by carrier, b) proof of ownership of the cargo, c) evidence of terms and conditions of the contract for carriage of cargo by sea.

BIN

Coal storage area - underground excavation or surface structure.

BINDER

A streak of impurity in a coal seam.

BIT

The hardened and strengthened device at the end of a drill rod that transmits the energy of breakage to the rock. The size of the bit determines the size of the hole. A bit may be either detachable from or integral with its supporting drill rod.

BITUMINOUS COAL

A general term descriptive of coal intermediate in rank between sub-bituminous and semi-anthracite and including coking coals. Bituminous coals may be either bright or dull and are usually banded in appearance.

BLACK COAL

A general term for coal of either sub-bituminous, bituminous or anthracite rank.

BLACK DAMP

A term generally applied to carbon dioxide. Strictly speaking, it is a mixture of carbon dioxide and nitrogen. It is also applied to an atmosphere deficient in oxygen, yet not containing significant methane.

BLACKS

The name given to the coal black shale material at the top of the coal seam; when mining, it often hides the true stone roof.

BLAST

A controlled explosion which is used to loosen the substance being mined.

BLASTING AGENT

Any material consisting of a mixture of a fuel and an oxidizer which: (1) Is used or intended for use in blasting. (2) Is not classed as an explosive by the Department of Transport. (3) Contains no ingredient classed as an explosive by the Department of Transport. (4) Cannot be detonated by a No. 8 blasting cap when tested as recommended by the Bureau of Mines Information Circular 8179.

BLASTING AREA

The area near blasting operations in which concussion or flying material can reasonably be expected to cause injury.

BLASTING CAP

A detonator containing a charge of detonating compound, which is ignited by electric current or the spark of a fuse. Used for detonating explosives.

BLASTING CIRCUIT

Electric circuits used to fire electric detonators or to ignite an igniter cord by means of an electric starter.

BLAST FURNACE

The receptacle for iron ore, coke and other raw materials used in the processing of iron ore into pig iron. Pig iron is subsequently processed into steel. The following chart shows the various components of the steel making process.

diagram

BLASTING SWITCH

A switch used to connect a power source to a blasting circuit.

BLEEDER (BLEEDER ENTRIES)

Special air courses developed and maintained as part of the mine ventilation system and designed to continuously move air-methane mixtures emitted by the gob away from active workings and into mine-return air courses.

Blends

A mixture of 2 or more coal types or brands. In the case of coke making, blending provides the manufacturer with the potential to mix lower cost poorer coking coals with higher cost hard coking coals and thereby reduce the overall cost of the coke oven feed.

BLOCK

A dimensional delineation of the coal; as in "a block of coal" or, "the reserves are blocked out".

BLOW PIPE

A thin pipe used to clean out shotholes with compressed air or water.

BLOWER

Jet of gas from strata.

BLOWN OUT SHOT

A shot that has failed to do its work. The energy of the explosives has blown out of either the front or the back of the shothole.

BOARD AND PILLAR

A continuous miner system of mining whereby a series of parallel roadways or headings are driven into the block of coal and interconnected by roadways known as cut-throughts to form solid coal blocks or pillars. Dimensions vary from 10 to 110 metres.

BOGHEAD COALS

(Kerosene shale, oil shale, torbanite). Members of the sapropelic coal group, resembling cannel coals in general appearance and properties but distinguished microscopically by the presence of alginite, and macroscopically by a brown or yellow streak when scratched.

BOLT TORQUE

The turning force in foot-pounds applied to a roof bolt to achieve an installed tension.

BOLTING MACHINES

Equipment used to install bolts into the roof, sides or floor surrounding mine roadways.

BOLTING RIGS

Equipment used to install bolts into the roof, sides or floor surrounding mine roadways.

BONE

Low quality coal.

BOODLE

To move coal, dirt or stone with a shovel or by hand (stone).

BOOM (OR JIB)

The extension of the loading conveyor which allows for the discharge of coal into another receiver, i.e. miner, shuttlecar, breaker feeder or conveyor boom (or jib).

BOOSTER FAN

An appliance used in a ventilation district or main airway to increase air flow.

BOOT END

This is the receiving hopper situated on the end of the panel conveyor. It accepts the coal from the shuttle car.

BORD

(1) Underground passageway made in solid coal in mining by the bord and pillar method. Australian legislation prevents bords from being driven over 5.5 m wide. (2) In certain mining districts a bord is a working place at right angles, or nearly so, to the direction of cleavage of the coal. (3) A driveage in the direction of advance of a panel or district.

BORD AND PILLAR

Method of underground coal mining where bords and cut- throughs are driven to form pillars. In some cases, the pillars are removed in a concurrent or later operation.

BOREHOLE

Any deep or long drill-hole, usually associated with a diamond drill or an oil well drill.

BORER

A device for making holes. The difference between a borer (used for making tunnels, circular shafts, and the like) and a drill, is the size of the hole produced. Borers take the large range of plus .9 m to 1.2 m. Because of the size involved, a borer is usually much more complex than a drill.

BOTTOM GAS

Mixture of methane and CO2 found near the floor in some mines.

BOTTOMS

The floor of the mine is usually stone but where coal is left accidentally or otherwise forming the floor, these are called "bottoms".

BOX-CUT

The initial opening used to access coal seams in an open-cut operation.

BOX-TYPE MAGAZINE

A small, portable magazine used to store limited quantities of explosives or detonators for short periods of time at locations in the mine which are convenient to the blasting sites at which they will be used.

BRACE

Landing stage in the headframe at which the skips are run out from the cage. See also "Bank".

Brand

The name given to a particular coal product. Each brand has its unique specification.

BRASSY (COAL)

Containing pyrite or marcasite, both sulphides of iron.

BRASSY TOPS

Low grade top coal impregnated with pyrite or marcasite. When exposed to air, these minerals may decompose causing heating and a fire.

BRAT

Thin flakes of stone band or coal sticking to the roof which fall away unexpectedly after the coal is mined.

BRATTICE (BRATTICE CLOTH)

Fire-resistant fabric or plastic partition used in a mine passage to confine the air and force it into the workinging place. Also termed "line brattice," "line canvas", or "line curtain".

BREAK

A crack or cavity in the strata encountered when boring-a shothole.

BREAK DETECTOR

A specially shaped tool used to detect breaks in shotholes.

BREAK LINE

The line which roughly follows the rear edges of coal pillars that are being mined. The line along which the roof of a coal mine is expected to break.

BREAKER

Switching device in electrical circuits or "Bradford Breaker" in coal preparation.

BREAKER PROPS

Large wooden props set in a group at the goaf edge. They are used to break off the goaf fall at a given point and prevent the fall extending along the roadway.

BREAKTHROUGH

(1) A narrow passage for ventilation which is cut through the pillars between bords. (2) That point in the mining cycle when the coal cutting machine meets another underground roadway or goaf edge.

BREAST

The face of a working. In coal mines, a chamber driven in the seam from the gangway, for the extraction of coal.

BRETBY

Trailing cable attachment to protect cable from damage, powering shearer - special type of cable stocking for longwall shearers.

BRIDGE CARRIER

A rubber-tyre-mounted mobile conveyor, about 9.1 m long, used as an intermediate unit to create a system of articulated conveyors between a mining machine and a room or entry conveyor.

BRIDGE CONVEYOR

A short conveyor hung from the boom of a mining or loading machine, with the other end attached to a receiving bin that dollies along a frame supported by the room or entry conveyor tailpiece. Thus, as the machine boom moves, the bridge conveyor keeps it in constant connection with the tailpiece.

BROKEN WORK

Pillar coal - as opposed to solid.

BROWN COAL

Coal of the lowest rank, of a soft friable nature and high moisture in the air-dried sample.

BRUSH (TO)

To remove rock or coal from the top (roof) of an opening (heading), thereby increasing the height of working. Used particularly in the longwall method of mining. The rock is packed elsewhere to provide support for the roof. The term has also been applied to the floor and roof.

BRUSHERS

Men who remove the rock from the roof or floor of a heading as a separate operation from mining coal.

BRUSHING

Digging up the bottom or taking down the top to give more headroom in roadways.

BSM

Brazilian Steel mills including the 5 major coal importers, ACOMINAS, COSIPA, CSN, CST and USIMINAS

BTU

(British Thermal Unit) The quantity of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of distilled water 1°F at its point of maximum density.

BUG DUST

The fine particles of coal or other material resulting from the boring or cutting of the coal face by drill or machine.

BULL

Anti-runback device on rear of train of skips.

BULLED HOLE

Resulting from a blown out shot. The shothole is shattered to a greater or lesser degree, depending on the charge and generally results from too much "burden" on the shot.

BUMP (OR BURST)

The release of strain energy by the rock around the face area; the result is both noise and movement often resulting in rib falls.

Bunker

Is the section within the ship where the fuel is stored. The expression " Bunkers" is the fuel energy used by the ship. This can include different grades and types of fuel oil used, and coal.

BUNKER COAL

A term reserved for coal supplied as fuel to ships.

BUNTONS

Timber, concrete or steel members set in a shaft to support rail guides, cables, etc.

BURDEN

The thickness or quantity of rock that a single number of shots is expected to move.

BURN CUT

A number of more or less parallel holes drilled into a face, some of which are charged and fired to form the "cut" into which subsequent holes fire.

BUTT

That portion or remainder of a shothole found in the face after a shot has been fired.

BUTT CLEAT

A short, poorly defined vertical cleavage plane in a coal seam, usually at right angles to the long face cleat.

BUTT ENTRY

A coal mining term that has different meanings in different locations. It can be synonymous with panel entry, sub-main entry, or in its older sense it refers to an entry that is "butt" onto the coal cleavage (that is, at right angles to the face).

BUTTERFILES

(1) Skip stoppers (2) Steel (usually pieces of "W" strap) used to support the roof around some roof bolts.

C&F

Cost and Freight. See CFR.

CABIN

Term used for underground office.

CABLE REEL

Device for paying out and reeling in of a trailing cable as a machine moves away from or towards the cable anchor.

CAGE

Box-like container attached to the winding rope and used to hold the skips or the men during the hoisting operation in the shaft.

CAKING COAL

Coal which leaves a coherent (agglomerated) residue when subjected to fast heating.

CALL OPTION

The right but not the obligation to buy an underlying asset.

CALORIFIC VALUE

Quantity of heat produced when a unit weight of coal burns. Calorific value is measured in British thermal units per pound or calories per gram.

CANCH

(1) Upper portion of a coal pillar mined in advance of the lower portion. The term is used to describe a method of pillar removal adopted by some mines working the thick Greta gas coal seam in the Maitland District, New South Wales. (2) A step up in the level of a roadway floor.

CANNEL COALS

Members of the sapropelic coal group, generally tough, unbanded, and of satin sheen or waxy lustre, distinguished microscopically by a black, shiny streak when scratched. Generally high in volatile matter, they are readily ignited and burn with a luminous smokey flame.

CANOPY

A protective cab on a mining machine.

CANVAS

The term is usually applied to brattice cloth, which is a heavy canvas of cotton, hemp or flax and frequently fireproofed.

CAP

(1) A pale blue flame that forms above the ordinary yellow flame in a safety lamp. It is due to firedamp (methane) burning. The quantity of firedamp present is estimated from the size and shape of the cap. (2) A piece of timber placed horizontally on top of-one or two vertical timbers to support the roof. (3) A miner's safety helmet.

CAP BLOCK

A flat piece of wood inserted between the top of the prop and the roof to provide bearing support.

CAP LAMP

A rechargeable, battery operated light worn on a miner's safety helmet.

CAPE SIZE VESSEL

Vessels capable of carrying 120 000 tonnes to 180 000 (+) tonnes when fully loaded.

CAPPEL

Terminal connection on winding or hauling rope onto cage or vehicle.

CAR

A railway wagon, especially any of the wagons adapted to carrying coal, ore and waste underground.

CAR CABLE

The trailing cable that supplies electricity to a shuttle car.

CAR DUMP

The mechanism for unloading a loaded car.

CARBIDE BIT

More correctly, cemented tungsten carbide. A cutting or drilling bit for rock or coal, made by fusing an insert of moulded tungsten carbide to the cutting edge of a steel bit shank.

CARBON CONTENT

The amount of carbon in coal.

Carbonisation

The process of converting coking coal into coke.

CARBON SEQUESTRAION

The capture and long term storage of CO2.

CARRIER (ALSO CARRYING BAR)

A main roof support carrying other supports across an intersection or under a fall.

CAST

A directed throw, in open-cut mining, the overburden is cast from the virgin ore or coal to the previously mined area.

CATCH POINT

De-railing device on trackwork for runaway prevention.

CAVE

A collapse of the mine workings.

CAVIL

Quarterly or half-yearly redistribution of working places in a mine made between contract parties of miners to ensure that an equable distribution of "easy" and "difficult" places is achieved. In carrying out a cavil the working places are numbered and corresponding numbers (marbles) are placed in a box or small barrel. In a second similar box or barrel, numbers corresponding to the employees arranged in groups of two or more, are placed.

Representatives selected by the employees then take a number from each box or barrel. The working place corresponding to the number allotted to the employees designated by the other number. This drawing of numbers is repeated until all employees are allotted working places. A week before the cavil is to take place the management posts a notice calling for names of men who desire to participate in the cavil and the name of the "mate" with whom they desire to work.

CAVIL OUT

Retrenchment in order of seniority.

CD or CQD

Customary despatch or Customary quick despatch. The basic meaning of this phrase is that the charterer must load and/or discharge as quickly as possible depending on the prevailing circumstances at the loading/discharging locations. There is, however, no fixed criteria for how quick �customary despatch� should be.

CENTRE LEG

Prop under centre of baulk or girder.

CERTIFIED

Describes a person who has passed an examination to do a required job.

CFR or C&F

Cost and freight. The word cost signifies the price of the goods as loaded and to which is added the freight to get the goods to the estination. The term is used with the name of the destination port, eg.CFR Hamburg.

CHAIN CONVEYOR

A conveyor on which the material is moved along -solid pans (troughs) by the action of scraper crossbars attached to powered chains.

CHAIN PILLAR

The pillar of coal left to protect the gangway or entry and the parallel airways.

CHARGE ROOM

Location in mine where locomotive batteries are recharged.

Charterer

A person or corporation who hires a vessel for the carriage of goods (either a time charter or voyage charter, or leases the vessel for their own management and control (a bareboat/demise charter).

Charterparty

The document that contains the details of the charter or contract. Standard-form charterparties are common today for various types of contracts and different trades.

CHECK CURTAIN

Sheet of brattice cloth hung across an airway to control the passage of the air current.

CHECK INSPECTOR

District or local official of the union appointed and paid by the underground employees to look after their interests regarding safety. The duties are laid down in the regulations governing mining operations.

CHECK WEIGHMAN

Person appointed by ballot by the underground employees to check the weight of coal mined by contract miners.

CHEMICAL CARTRIDGE

Sausage shaped flexible container of two chemicals which, when mixed, form a quick setting resin - used in roof and rock bolting.

CHITTER

Waste rock broken during mining and picked or washed out from the coal.

CHOCK

(1) A roof support unit for use in large openings which consists of wooden or steel blocks stacked between the floor and the roof often filled with stone for added stability (2) An hydraulic support used with the longwall system of mining.

CHOCK CONTROL UNIT

Hydro-electric device to move supports.

CHPP

(Coal Handling and Preparation Plant) A plant used to upgrade the quality of coal including crushing, sizing and drying - usually refers to the reduction of ash forming mineral in coal.

CHUCK ON

Re-railer on skip haulage road.

CHUCK OVER

A weighted or spring loaded lever which activates a set of points to ensure they remain set either "open" or "closed".

CHUTE

A structure designed to allow the transfer of bulk solids by force of gravity. Often only the structure at the mouth of a pass or packet is called a chute.

CIF

Cost, insurance and freight. Basically the same as "C&F" but the seller must also procure insurance against the risk of loss or damage during the voyage. The seller contracts with the insurer, pays the insurance premium, and then includes this in the price of the goods.

CINDER COAL

(Natural coke, cinder). Coal which has been significantly altered by heat associated with natural igneous activity; usually local in character.

CLAY VEIN

A body of clay-like material that fills a void in a coal bed.

CLEAN COAL

The coal product that has undergone processing (wet or dry).

CLEAN COAL TECHNOLOGIES

Technologies that are being developed to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired electricity generation to near-zero levels.

CLEAT

Parallel cleavage planes or partings crossing the bedding and along which the coal breaks more easily than in any other direction.

CLIPPER

Person who attaches clips to a moving endless rope used for skip haulage. The chain from the clip is attached to the skip, as the clip becomes fast on the rope, the skip moves along.

COAL BLOCK

A section of insitu coal that may range in size, generally pillar to longwall block.

COAL BLENDING

Coal that is mixed in predetermined and controlled quantities to give a uniform feed or product.

COAL CLEARANCE SYSTEM

A system used to transfer coal from the working faces to the surface.

COAL CUTTER

Machine used to cut a horizontal or vertical slot about 150 mm wide in solid coal, extending back into the coal for a distance of up to 3 m. This opening may be at the floor or top of the seam, or in the case of a relatively thick seam near the centre. A vertical cut or shear is sometimes made in addition to the horizontal cut. The cut is made by a fast-moving chain carrying small steel picks. It is placed to assist in the working of solid coal with explosives.

COAL DUST

Particles of coal that can pass a No. 20 sieve.

COAL HANDLING AND PREPARATION PLANT

A plant used to upgrade the quality of coal including crushing, sizing and drying - usually refers to the reduction of ash forming mineral in coal.

COAL MINE

An area of land and all structures, facilities, machinery, tools, equipment, shafts, slopes, tunnels, excavations and other property, real or personal, placed upon, under or above the surface of such land by any person, used in, or to be used in, or resulting from the work of extracting in such area bituminous coal, lignite, or anthracite from its natural deposits in the earth by any means or method and the work of preparing the coal so extracted and includes custom coal preparation facilities.

COAL PREPARATION

(1) The work of cutting, boring, and blasting the coal at the face ready for the loading machines. (2) Treatment by screening to give coal of various sizes to meet a purchaser's requirements; also treatment by one or more processes to reduce the amount of waste (ash) present in the coal.

COAL RESERVE

The economically mineable part of the coal resource, as defined in the JORC Code. It includes diluting materials and allowances for losses.

COAL RESOURCE

Coal in the ground with reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction, as defined in the JORC Code.

COAL SIZING PLANT

Plant used to size, crush or screen coal to market specifications.

COAL WASHERY

A Coal Washery or Coal Preparation Plant is a plant which removes ash from the coal to improve its quality as a commercial product.

COBBLES

Fist size lumps of coal.

COCK HOLE

Point to which horse limbers connect on skip.

COKE

The end product of the carbonisation of coal. Generated from coking coal after being heated at high temperature in an atmosphere substantially devoid of oxygen, passing through a transient plastic stage in which the coal successively softens, swells and resolidifies into a coherent cellular coke ready for use in the steel making process.

COKE

The end product of the carbonisation of coal. Generated from coking coal after being heated at high temperature in an atmosphere substantially devoid of oxygen, passing through a transient plastic stage in which the coal successively softens, swells and resolidifies into a coherent cellular coke ready for use in the steel making process.

COKE OVEN

An enclosed vessel in which coking coal is converted to coke for use in steel making. The airtight compartments into which coking coal is charged and subsequently heated to about 1000 degrees Celsius.

COKING COAL

Coal which are is suitable for coke making and used in the production of metallurgical coke.

COLD SET

Heat-treated chisel.

COLLAR

The term applied to the timbering or concrete around the mouth or top of a shaft. Also, see "Crossbar".

COLLIERY

English name for coal mine.

COMPETENT

A person that is capable of performing a given job but not certified.

COMPONENT

As applied to coal mining equipment, an integral part of a machine that may be removed from the machine in its entirety

CONSIDERATION

Extra payment to contract miners to reimburse them for delays or additional work arising from unusual circumstances.

CONSUMER/td>

A corporation which uses coal as a fuel or raw material, eg. A power utility, a cement works, an industrial furnace operator, a steel mill.

CONTANGO

When a derivative instrument (future or swap) price is above the expected future spot price.

CONTINUOUS MINER

The electric powered cutting machine used to remove coal from the face and load it into the shuttle car. It comes in a variety of makes and sizes. Also - a remote-controlled, tracked, electrically powered coal cutting and loading machine used to form mine roadways and extract coal pillars.

CONTOUR

An imaginary line which connects all points on a surface having the same elevation.

CONVENTIONAL MINING

A system which is older than continuous mining and uses the cyclical operations of cutting, drilling, shooting and loading.

CONVEYOR

The means of transporting coal from the boot end to the underground bin or surface. It consists of an endless belt being driven by a motor drum system over a structure roller assembly.

CORE

The innermost portion; in this case, the cylindrical rock sample produced by the cutting action of a diamond drill.

COREX

See "Corex Coal" below and Appendix 3.

COREX COAL

A number of steel makers are using non blast furnace processes for the production of pig iron. One particular process being used by Pohang Steel in Korea and Jindal Steel in India involves the direct reduction of a mixture of coal and iron ore using the “Corex” process. The coal quality requirements for Corex differ from coke oven blends. The process can utilise a range of coal types, including thermal coals, provided the feed coal at the plant has a sizing generally above 8mm (8x50mm) and good “char” forming characteristics.

COUP (TO) (COPE)

To remove a skip from the rails to permit another skip to pass, by turning it over on its side away from the track. The term applied to approximately one tonne capacity ships used in hand mining.

COVER

The overburden on any deposit.

COWL

Attachment on ranging arm to suppress dust and direct coal onto armoured face conveyor.

CPP

(Coal Handling and Preparation Plant) A plant used to upgrade the quality of coal including crushing, sizing and drying - usually refers to the reduction of ash forming mineral in coal.

CREEP

(1) Upward movement of a relatively soft floor of a seam under pressure from adjacent coal pillars - can be called floor heave. (2) Sometimes used for widespread movement of the upper strata because pillars left for roof support were insufficient size over a relative large area.

CRIB

Mealtime.

CRIB BAG

The modern equivalent of the crib can.

CRIB CAN

Lunch box. Usually fabricated from galvanised iron sheet and shaped to fit comfortably against the hip (for pushbike riding miners).

CRIB ROOM

The crib room is the location which has been fitted out with tables and seats for meal breaks.

CRIBO (Slang)

Payment for working through meal break or crib break.

CROP

An abbreviation of outcrop, the surface exposure of a coal seam.

CROP COAL

Coal at the outcrop of the seam. It is usually considered of inferior quality due to partial oxidation, although this is not always the case.

CROSS-BAR

The horizontal member of a roof timber set supported by props located either on roadways or at the face.

CRUDE STEEL

The molten end product after the processing of pig iron in steel making furnaces to remove excess carbon. Steel making furnaces comprise basic oxygen furnaces, electric arc (EAF) furnaces and open-hearth furnaces.

CSN

Crucible Swelling Number; the higher the number, the better the coking properties.

CUT AND FLIT

A continuous miner system of mining used to develop a panel, typically 7 headings wide, that involves the continuous miner cutting out a designated length of roadway and flitting to another working face in a predetermined sequence within the panel. A roof bolting machine then moves into the place left by the miner and installs roof support concurrently with coal production in another roadway.

CV

Calorific Value basis (either GAD, NAR, or GAR).

CYCLE

A method of working in which mining operations take place in a specified sequence.

CYCLE MINING

A system of mining in more than one working place at a time, that is, a miner takes a lift from the face and moves to another face while permanent roof support is established in the previous face.

DANGLERS

Reflective signs hung from survey pins to indicate driveage direction.

DARG

Output of coal (in skips) arbitrarily fixed by contract miners as constituting the day's output per man. It was usually the maximum number of skips that could be made available to every miner each day. When the darg has been reached, the miners cease production.

DAYLIGHT

Point in mine where light of day can first be seen by men emerging (see Eyesight).

Deadfreight

freight payable on cargo space booked but not actually used.

DEADWORK

Essential work not directly connected with the mining or transporting of coal.

DECLINE

An inclined roadway or drift used to provide surface access to an underground coal seam or underground access between seams or to different levels within the one seam.

DELAY DETONATOR

A detonator incorporating an element which determines the time interval at which detonation occurs.

DEMURRAGE

Refers specifically to the money payable to the owner for delay incurred for which the owner is not responsible in loading and/or discharging after the laytime allowed for in the charterparty has expired. The rate of demurrage is usually agreed upon in advance in the charterparty.

DEPUTY

Supervisor in charge of a section or district of a mine, and all employees working therein. The statutory duties, responsibility and authority of a deputy are set down in the relevant mining regulations.

DERIVATIVE INSTRUMENT

A derivative instrument is a product whose performance is derived on the behaviour of the price of the underlying asset.

DESPATCH MONEY

Payment/compensation, by way of a bonus, to the charterer for loading and/or discharging a vessel in less time than is stipulated in the charterparty. The compensation is to reimburse the charterers/ shippers or consignees for any expenses they may have incurred in order to save time to the vessel. In other words despatch money is the exact opposite of demurrage. Despatch is only payable if allowed for in the charterparty.

DETACHING HOOK

Device that frees the cage from the haulage rope in the event of an overwind in the shaft The cage remains suspended.

DETECTORS

Specialised chemical or electronic instruments used to detect mine gases.

DETONATOR

A device containing a small amount of very powerful explosive which is used to initiate the explosion of the main charge when shotfiring.

DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES

The process of establishing a mining panel (pillars or longwall block).

DEVELOPMENT APPROVAL

A formal planning approval, issued for proposed developments under the environmental planning and Assessment Act 1979.

DEVELOPMENT CONSENT

A formal planning approval, issued for proposed developments under the environmental planning and Assessment Act 1979.

DHD (or D ½ D)

Despatch half Demurrage. The amount of demurrage and despatch is a matter for negotiation before the fixture. In cases where owners expect despatch will have to be paid anyway, they will try to fix demurrage at the lowest possible figure which will consequently keep the despatch rate down on the Despatch half Demurrage terms.

DIAMOND CUT

Holes drilled at an angle to a face so that the bottom of the holes converge to form a pyramid (pyramid cut).

DIFFUSER FAN

A fan mounted on a continuous miner to assist and direct air delivery from the machine to the face.

DIFFUSION

Blending of a gas and air, resulting in an homogenous mixture. Blending of two or more gases.

DILLY ROPE

Auxiliary haulage rope (tow rope).

DINTING (RIPPING) (OR BOTTOM BRUSHING)

Removing rock from the floor of a seam - floor brushing.

DIP

The grade of the coal seam. It is usually expressed as I in X in a certain direction.

DIRT

Valueless rock (shale, sandstone) present within the coal seam or broken from the bottom or top of the seam during coal mining.

DISPLACEMENT

(1) A joint plane along which vertical or horizontal movement has occurred. (2) The amount by which a seam is moved by a fault.

DOG BONE (DUMBELL)

Used to connect line pans together.

DOG-WATCH

Night shift; from about 11.00 p.m. to about 7.00 am depending on individual mines.

DOLLY

A length of prepared clay/sand stemming (in shotfiring).

DOLLY (MIXER)

The tool used in the chuck of the bolting machine to rotate the roof bolt to mix the chemical to secure the roof bolt.

DOLLY CAR

Control car permanently attached to the drift haulage rope.

DOLLY SPANNER

The tool used in the chuck of the bolting machine to tighten the bolt after it has been secured.

DOLLY TIGHTENING

See Dolly Spanner.

DOOR

Set across part or all of a roadway to prevent the passage of ventilating air but allowing traffic to pass when required.

DOUBLER

Two shifts worked sequentially, one being an overtime shift.

DOWNCAST

Shaft or other mine opening down which fresh air from the surface passes.

DOWNTHROW

Amount of displacement, measured vertically, between the upper and lower portions of a coal seam displaced by a downthrow fault. (See "fault").

DOWTY

A hydraulic prop.

DRAW SLATE

A soft slate, shale, or rock from 5.08 cm to 60.96 cm thick and located immediately above certain coal seams, which falls quite easily when the coal support is withdrawn.

DRI

Direct reduction of iron ore to produce pig iron utilising coal instead of coke. See " Corex ".

DRIFT

An inclined access from the surface to the coal seam or from coal seam to another coal seam. It often contains a conveyor belt or man-riding train.

DRIFTER

A hand-held boring machine mounted on an air leg used to bore holes when driving drifts or drives.

DRILL BITS

The drill tool which fits in the top of the drill steel and used in the cutting action in the hole drilling operation.

DRILL STEEL

The length of drill rod which fits into the chuck of the bolting machine to drill holes in the roof for the placement of roof bolts or in drilling holes when driving drifts, sinking shafts or other stone work.

DRIPPER

Water dropping from the roof.

DRIVE

A heading, drift, advancing place or face.

DRIVEHEAD

The driving mechanism of motor, gearbox and drive drum which is responsible for the movement of the conveyor belt.

DRUM

Cutting disc on shearer.

DUES

Fees paid regularly by all members of a union.

DUFF

Fine coal.

DUMP

Discharge point for loaded shuttle cars and other haulage devices. Also location of supplies in a production section, e.g. timber dump.

DUSTED

(1) Term used to describe a diseased lung condition of a miner who has breathed dust-laden air over a prolonged period which has resulted in dust particles being lodged in the lungs. (2) Term used to describe treatment of workings with powdered limestone to prevent the propagation of coal dust explosions.

DWT

Deadweight Tons. Deadweight cargo capacity is the weight (in tons or tonnes) of the cargo required to sink the ship to her loadline after allowing for bunkers, stores, etc.

DYKE

(1) Normally vertical intrusion of igneous rock cutting across the strata. Can vary tremendously between 0.6 m to 20 m or more in the horizontal dimension. (2) An intrusive body which has disrupted the coal seam by cutting vertically through it. Usually it has a cindered band of coal each side of the rock.

EARTH LEAKAGE

Device to disconnect electric current in case of and earth fault reaching a certain magnitude.

EAF

Electric arc furnace.

EFFECTIVE CAPACITY

The maximum production possible under normal working conditions.

EGRESS

A negotiable roadway (see "Second Means of Egress").

ENDLESS ROPE

Rope haulage using a driven cee wheel to impart motion to the rope, with the rope travelling inbye over one road to haul empty skips inbye, around a sheave set below the road and over a second road to haul full skips outbye. A tension device is used to keep the rope tight on the cee wheel.

ENERGY COAL

Coal used to provide heat for steam raising as part of the electricity generation process.

ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT

A collective agreement under industrial relations legislation.

ENTRY

An underground passage used for haulage, ventilation, or as a man-way.

ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT

A detailed assessment of environmental matters relating to a major project as defined under part 3A of the environmental planning and Assessment Act 1979.

EVASEE

The ducting on the exhaust side of a ventilation fan.

EXPLODER

A machine used for generating the current for firing shots by the electrical method.

EXPLOITATION

This is the process of economic recovery or removal of the developed mineral body.

EXPLORATION

The search for mineral deposits and the work done to prove or establish the extent of a mineral deposit.

EXPLORATION TENEMENT

A licence granted under the Mining Act 1992 to allow exploration to be undertaken with the objective of determining the occurrence and extent of a coal resource and to assess the potential for mining.

EXPLOSIVE

Any rapidly combustive or expanding substance. The energy released during this rapid combustion or expansion can be used to break rock.

EXTRACTED ON RETREAT

Coal that is recovered from coal pillars once the panel has been fully developed to its designed boundary by retreating and extracting the previously formed pillars. often in conjunction with the use of hydraulic supports (breaker line supports or BlSs) to protect the immediate working area.

EYESIGHT

Location in mine where men walking pause to let their eyes become accustomed to darkness..

F.I.O.

Free in and out. This expression means it is the responsibility of the charterers to load, or the consignees to discharge, the cargo for their respective accounts, that is free of expense to the owners.

F.O.B.

Free on board. Stipulates that the seller is to deliver the goods on board the vessel free of cost to the buyer at a port named in the sales contract.

F.O.B.T.

Free on board and trimmed.

F.O.R.

Free on rail.

FACE

The inbye end of the mine roadway, usually the working place for coal extraction.

FALCON

A compressed air-powered percussive drill used to drill vertically up or steeply inclined holes and to set roof bolts.

FALL

Collapse of roof material.

FAN

Part of elaborate ventilating system used to pass air through the mine workings. The "main" fan is located on the surface but other fans may be located within the workings. (See Auxiliary Fan and Booster Fan).

FAN DRIFT

A short inclined passageway cut out from the side of an upcast shaft leading to the inlet of the mine fan. Used where the upcast shaft also contains winding gear, i.e. second means of egress.

FAS

Free alongside. If a charterparty provides for delivery of cargo free alongside it is the responsibility of the shipper to arrange for delivery of the cargo within reach of cargo handling equipment at the port or on another vessel.

FAULT

Break in the continuity of a coal seam or rock strata. There are many types of fault.

FAULT AND DYKE STRUCTURES

Discontinuities in the coal seam that may impact upon the mineability or quality of the surrounding coal.

FC

Fixed Carbon calculated by difference, i.e. 100% minus the sum of moisture, ash, and volatile matter.

FEEDER

(1) A piece of equipment which aids the flow of coal from one location (perhaps a bin) to another (perhaps a conveyor belt); or (2) Breaker feeder which is a stationary but mobile piece of mining equipment which breaks large lumps of coal into smaller pieces and discharges coal onto a conveyor belt.

FENDER

The block of coal between a pillar split and the goaf.

FILL

Any material that is put back in place of the extracted ore to provide ground support.

FIO

Free in and out. This expression means that it is the responsibility of the charterer to load, or the consignee to discharge, the cargo for their respective accounts, that is free of expense to the owners of the vessel.

FIRE DEPOT

A collection of fire-fighting equipment found at boot ends and at least every 400 m along conveyors, also at other critical points in the mine. They are required by law in some countries.

FIRE STATION

The main colliery fire-fighting equipment kept close to pit top.

FIRE STINK

The smell detected in the return air from a self-heating; sometimes like garlic when the heating is in the early stages but usually quite distinctive for a mine which is liable to self- heatings. The fan attendant or engine driver is usually appointed to enter the fan drift at regular intervals to detect the smell of a heating in its early stages.

FIRE SUB-STATION

Fire-fighting equipment set up near the entrance to each underground fire zone.

FIRE TEAM

Each colliery has a chosen team of trained men for this purpose.

FIREDAMP

Any mixture of methane and air is firedamp. If mixed in the range 5 to 150 (methane in air) the mixture will explode and has been the source of many explosions in coal mines. If above 15% the mixture will burn and hence the name firedamp. At one time firedamp used to be removed by deliberately lighting it. (See also Methane).

FIRST WORKINGS

Driving roadways in solid coal (before commencement or pillar extraction).

FIRST-AID STATION

Area set aside for medical and first-aid equipment.

FISH PLATE

Rail connecting plates used in trackwork.

FISSURE

An extensive crack, break or fracture in the rocks.

FIXED CARBON

That part of the carbon which remains behind when coal is heated in a closed vessel until all of the volatile matter is driven off.

FLAME SAFETY LAMP (FSL)

A lamp used to check for oxygen deficiencies and presence of methane. NOTE:It is not possible to determine what type of gases are present with a FSL. It is also used to provide emergency lighting. Also known as a locked oil flame safety lamp (LOFSL).

FLAMEPROOF (ENCLOSURE)

Steel box containing electrical equipment, designed to cool any spark or flame occurring inside to a temperature below that required to ignite methane on the outside.

FLAMEPROOF (EQUIPMENT)

Equipment within which an explosive mixture of gas can ignite without igniting explosive gases surrounding the equipment.

FLASH POINT

The minimum temperature at which sufficient vapour is released by a liquid or solid to form a flammable vapour-air mixture at atmospheric pressure.

FLAT

Marshalling or storage depot for full or empty skips. One flat may serve a number of working places

FLAT SHEET

Steel sheet to: (1) Make for easier shovelling. (2) Slew skips on.

FLAT-TOP

Steel rail trolley for transport of rails - timber, bricks, etc. - loco hauled.

FLIGHT

The metal strap or crossbar attached to the drag chain and flight conveyor.

FLIT (TO)

(1) To drive a relatively immobile coal cutting/loading machine from one workplace. (2) To drive mining equipment such as coal cutters, loaders, continuous miners from one point to another.

FLIT PLUG(S)

(1) The plug on the end of a trailing cable. (2) An attachment for joining two power cables together - also a back to back.

FLITTING

The movement of the miner and other face equipment from one working face to another.

FLOAT DUST

Fine coal dust particles carried in suspension by air currents and eventually deposited in return entries. Dust consisting of particles of coal that can pass through a No. 200 sieve.

FLOATER

(1) Employee who fills the place of an absentee. Also termed a scout miner. (2) Piece of waste rock in a seam or discontinuity in roof. (3) A relatively insecure piece of roof material. Also kettle bottom, pot arse, slippery, greasy back.

FLOOR

Any material that is put back in place of the extracted ore to provide ground support.

FLOOR HEAVE

See "Creep".

FLOTATION

Wet process for the separation of coal from waste rock. The coal particles are lifted or floated to the surface by air bubbles in a liquid medium.

FLUIDITY

The degree to which coal becomes plastic over certain temperature ranges during the carbonisation process. The measurement of " maximum fluidity " is used by some steel makers, particularly Japanese steel mills, in assessing the ability of coal particles to mix with other coals in a coke oven blend. Maximum fluidity is determined by placing a sample of finely ground coal in a crucible and measuring the speed of rotation of a paddle placed within the crucible which is heated. A gravitational force is applied to the paddle and the maximum rotation of the paddle is measured in dial divisions per minute or DDPM. The temperature at which the paddle reaches maximum rotation differs for varying coal types.

FOB

Free on board. Stipulates that the seller is to deliver the goods on board the vessel free of cost to the buyer at the port named in the sales contract.

FOBT

Free on board and trimmed. The trimmed indicates that the cargo has been trimmed within the hold for the sake of the ships stability and to make room for additional cargo.

FOOT SECTION (TAIL SECTION)

A term used in both belt and chain conveyor work to designate that portion of the conveyor at the extreme opposite end from the delivery point. In either type of conveyor it consists of a frame and either a sprocket or a drum on which the chain or belt travels, plus such other devices as may be required for adjusting belt or chain tension.

FOR

Free on rail.

FRACTURE

An old miners' term for explosives.

FROG

Centre point section of a rail turnout also called a crossing.

FUMES

Gases, both non-toxic and poisonous, resulting from-the detonation of explosives.

FUTURES CONTRACT

A contract that obligates the holder of the contract to buy or sell an underlying asset at a predetermined delivery price during a specified future time period.

GANTRY

Elevated structure on surface - usually carries main conveyor from tunnel portal to top of a bin. Also type of workshop crane.

GAD

Gross air dried

GAR

Gross as received

GAS

This term is used synonymously with firedamp.

GAS DRAINAGE

The system used to extract gas from the coal and remove it from the mine.

GAS RANGE

A pipe marked with a yellow band carrying seam gas out of the mine.

GATE

Roadway leading to a working place in longwall mining.

GATE END BOX(LOAD CENTRE)

An electrical control centre used in a panel to (OR DCB) control and distribute power to the face machinery (usually flameproof).

GATE ROADS

Access roadways connecting the longwall working face with the Main Roadways.

GATHERING CONVEYOR

Any conveyor which is used to gather coal from other conveyors and deliver it either into mine cars or onto another conveyor. The term is frequently used with belt conveyors placed in entries where a number of room conveyors deliver coal onto the belt.

Geological Classification

Rank is a term which signifies the degree of coalification that the sediments which constitute the coal have undergone. Rank increases from lignite to semi-bituminous to bituminous to semi-anthracite to anthracite. In the database coal reserves have been classified by rank.

GEORDY PUMP

Baling device.

GEORDY TURN

Square bar used as rails.

GIN

(In historical terms). Appliance used for hoisting broken material up a shaft in prospecting work. It comprises a large cylindrical drum around which the haulage rope is wound The drum is frequently rotated by a horse.

GIRDER

Heavy steel horizontal roof. support.

GKCT

Gray King Coke Type; the higher the number, the better the coking properties.

GLOBALCOAL

“GlobalCOAL” trading system for Newcastle coal. An online marketplace formed to facilitate physical or derivative coal trading and the provision of coal related services and information.

GOAF-SIDE

That side of a coal pillar near the goaf.

GOAF (VOIDS)

The space left following extraction of the coal seam where the roof material is allowed to collapse.

GOB

Same as goaf.

GOB STINK

Smell from a goaf area - stale air, rotting timber, etc. - usually with smell of burning.

GREASY BACK

A parting which cuts across both bedding and cleat, the surfaces of which appear to be polished. A source of instability in roof, rib and face as slabs of material part from the polished surfaces without warning.

GRUB (TO)

To dint or rip floor material.

GRUNCHING

Blasting the coal out of the solid seam without previous undercutting.

GUARD BOARDS

Boards placed alongside and extending below trolley and other power wires not more than 1.98 m above the rail at crossings where men and animals must pass under to protect them from contact with the power wires.

GUARD RAIL

An additional rail placed beside the track rail in service to compel the flange of the wheels to run close to the latter in crossing over frog points or entering switches.

GUIDES

Vertical timbers, rails, or wire rope in the shaft to guide the cage in its passage up and down.

GUNITE

A cement applied by spraying to the roof and sides of a mine passage.

HALF-ROUND

See "Baulk".

HALF-ROUND CROWN

Same as for "Crown" only split into two.

HARD COKING COAL

Coals which make hard coke when carbonised in the coke oven.

HEAD

The pressure in metres of water column. Also, that part of the face nearest the roof.

HEADFRAME/HEADSHEAVES

Structure erected at the surface above the shaft to permit the rope of the winding engine to pass down and up the shaft. At the top of the headframe is the head pulley or pulleys. (Sheaves).

HEADING

(1) Roadways forming the openings in the direction of development of the panel. Heading direction parallel to cleavage direction. (2) A roadway driven in the solid. (3) A roadway driven in the direction of advance of a district, e.g. main headings, 2 s.w. heading, etc.

HEATING

Self heating - outbreak of spontaneous combustion underground (or in surface stockpile).

HEAVING

Applied to the rising of the bottom after removal of the coal.

HEWER

A coal miner. This term is more particularly applied when the hand method of mining is used.

HGI

Hardgrove Grindability Index - ease of pulverisation (eg 30 is very hard, 70 is soft).

HIGH

TENSION CABLE Higher voltage supply cable taking power from the surface to the underground transformers.

HOGSBACK

A sharp rise in the floor of a seam.

HOIST

The mechanism for reeling in the hoist rope; the hoisting prime mover; called winder in England.

HOLEING

Undercutting - breaking through.

HOLEING

BAND Soft band suitable for undercutting.

HOPPIT

Large bucket used as a container for rock broken during shaft sinking.

HORN

Steel pin to retain load on trollies or flat tops.

HORSEBACK

A mass of material with a slippery surface in the roof, shaped like a horse's back.

HOT METAL

See pig iron.

HUTCH

Alternative for "skip".

HV

High volatile matter coal, > 31% on a dry mineral matter free basis.

HYDRANTS

The water outlet found at the boot end and at least every 100 m along the conveyor water lines. They are the connection points for fire-fighting hoses.

HYDRAULIC STOWAGE

Filling of worked out sections of a coal seam by pumping in a slurry of water and fine sand or rock. The water drains away and the residue sets hard thus supporting the overlying rock and preventing collapse of the superincumbent strata

IISI

International Iron and Steel Institute.

IM

Inherent Moisture.

IN SITU

Total reserves of coal in seam. Term used by geologists for coal that exists but is not necessarily mineable.

INBYE

The direction along a roadway towards the face thus going away from the surface entry.

INERTISATION

Injection of inert gas (nitrogen etc.) into a mine to extinguish a fire.

IN-SEAM GAS DRAINAGE SYSTEM

A method of reducing the insitu gas content of the seam to within acceptable limits by drilling holes into the seam or surrounding strata ahead of mining.

INSERT

The immediate entry into each coal seam.

INSET (1)

Opening leading from a shaft (or drift) into a coal seam. (2) A pocket in the side of a shaft (or drift) cut out for a special purpose, e.g. pump station, dam, etc.

INSPECTOR

Person appointed by the Government (Department of Mines) under the mining regulations. His duties include the making of examinations of the mine to ascertain whether the regulations relating to the operations are being observed.

INSTANTANEOUS DETONATOR

A detonator designed to have no more than a nominal delay between initiation and explosion of the detonating charge.

INTAKE

Any passage taking fresh air into the workings.

INTEGRATED STEEL MAKING

The steel making process from the production of pig iron in a blast furnace through to the making of steel in a furnace. It is normally assumed that coke production will form part of the integrated process.

INTERSECTION

The meeting of two roadways.

ISOLATOR

Electrical switch to cut off power.

JACK

A manually or hydraulically set mechanical support or lifting appliance.

JACK-LEG

A percussion drill used for drifting or stoping that is mounted on a telescopic leg which has an extension of about 2.4 m. The leg and machine are hinged so that the drill need not be in the same direction as the leg.

JACK-ROLL

A hand-operated appliance used for raising and lowering material in a shaft. Also termed windlass.

JFY

Japanese fiscal year commencing 1 April.

JIG

A self-acting incline, by which full skips descending the slope, pull up empty skips. Also, a device used for removing stone from coal.

JIM CROW (CROW)

Rail bending tool.

JOCKEY POINTS

Temporary rail points laid on top of rails without breaking into them.

JOGGLE (TO)

Japanese Steel mills.

JORC CODE

2004 Australasian Code for Reporting Identified Mineral Resources and ore Reserves. Australian mining exploration and production companies are bound to produce Resource and Reserves Statements using the JoRC Code in accordance with the listing Rules of the Australian Stock exchange.

JSM

To shape the end. of a prop and/or bar or baulk to make a secure fit.

JUMP KEEPERS

Restraining stops in cage axle retainer on skips.

JUMP UP/DOWN

Slang - geological fault.

KEPS

(1) Supports used to take the weight of the cage at the surface when loading or unloading is taking place. Also referred to as chairs. (2) Re-railing keps are guides along an endless ropeway to return automatically a de-railed skip to the track.

KERF

Cut made by the mechanical coal cutter.

KG/MTHM(also kg/thm)

Kilograms per metric tonne of hot metal.

KIBBLE

Usually refers to a self-tipping sinking bucket designed so that the suspension bridle pivots below the centre of gravity of the full bucket which empties automatically when a catch engaging the bridle is released. Also referred to as hoppit.

KIP

Raised section of a haulage way' built to give skips greater elevation and thereby a downhill run.

KNEE HOLES

The next row of holes above the lifters in a round of shots.

LACK-OF-TRADE

Term used to describe the stoppage of work because of lack of orders for coal.

L.D

The LD Process refers to the Linz-Donawitz operations of utilizing top blown pressurized oxygen to the top surface of the molten metal bath in the blast furnace.

LAGGING

Steel or timber placed between or behind roadway supports, set so they provide support of the roof from one bar to another.

Laycan

Laydays & Canceling Date. The earliest and latest dates on which the vessel must be ready to load at the port or be delivered to the time charterer.

Laydays

This term may sometimes be used to refer to laytime, calculated in a number of days. It is preferable to use the term laydays to refer to the earliest time when the charterer expects the vessel to be ready for loading and/or discharging.

Laytime

Refers to the period of time agreed between the parties in the charterparty, during which the owner will make and keep the ship available for loading/discharging without payment additional to the freight.

LEVY

Amount of money, in addition to the ordinary dues, paid by members to the union funds for a special purpose.

LID

A small flat block of wood used as packing between the top of a prop and the roof.

LIFT

A slice of coal taken off the end of a fender or pillar during pillar extraction.

LIFTERS

The bottom row of holes in a round of shots designed to bring the floor of the excavation to the desired level.

LIGNITE

A brownish-black coal composed of vegetable matter which has been altered more than in peat, but less than in sub- bituminous coal.

LINE-CUT

A systematic placement of shotholes some of which are charged and fired leaving the remainder to provide loose ends. A method of smooth blasting.

LOA

Length overall (shipping term).

LOAD CENTRE

An electrical distribution centre from which face machines are individually supplied.

LOADING DENSITY

The weight of explosives per unit length of a shothole.

LOAF

The area abandoned and left to collapse after the extraction of coal.

LOCK-OUT

Closure of the mine by the management thus preventing employees from working.

LODGE

Sub-division of the union formed at a mine. The officers of the lodge, elected by ballot, comprise a chairman, secretary, treasurer and check inspector.

LONGWALL

A system of working coal in which the seam is extracted on a broad front or long face.

LONGWALL CHANGEOVER

The process of relocating longwall equipment from one panel to another, often coincides with major planned maintenance.

LONGWALL CONTINUITY

Critical to economic well-being of a longwall operation. Longwall continuity is achieved when the expected time-lag between the completion of one panel and the start of the next relates purely to the time taken to transfer equipment, i.e. no additional time is required to shape-up the next longwall block to its designed dimensions because of insufficient development.

LONGWALL MINING

A system of mining that involves the extraction of large blocks of coal, with the coal being mined on retreat in slices up to 1.0 metre thick from the longwall face.

Key longwall mining equipment includes:
• a Shearer, used to cut and load the coal from the face;
• a steel chained armoured face conveyor, used to transfer the coal across the face;
• self advancing, high capacity, hydraulic longwall supports, used to support the immediate face area as the coal is mined;
• a beam stage loader, used to transfer the coal from the face to the longwall panel conveyor;
• a crusher, used to size the coal; and
• the pantechnicon that incorporates the longwall services, including power supply.

LONGWALL PANEL/BLOCK

A large contiguous block of coal, typically 100-300 metres wide and 1-3.5 kilometres long, suitable for longwall extraction.

LOOP TAKE-UP

Device at drivehead to adjust belt tension.

LOW STRIP-RATIO

An overburden to coal ratio, measured in bank cubic metres to insitu tonnes. the lower the ratio generally means a lower cost of extraction.

LOW SULPHUR AND ASH CONTENT COAL

Coal that is generally less than 0.4% total sulphur and 18% ash.

LOOSE END

Also free face. A part of the seam or rock which is relatively unconfined to which a shot (or miner) can do its work more easily.

LUBE BAY

Building used for servicing equipment.

LUMPBREAKER

Attachment on shearer to break large lumps of coal.

LV

Low volatile coal, < 22% on a dry mineral matter free basis.

MACHINE

Once a hand drill then coal cutter, now continuous miner.

MACHINE MAN

Pay classification - worker who drives any underground machine.

MACERALS

Microscopically recognisable individual organic constituents of coal. They are recognised on the basis of their reflectance and morphology (eg Vitrinite, Exinite and Inertinite).

MAGAZINE

Building used to store explosives.

MAIN AND TAIL

Type of rope haulage where one rope on a reversible double drum haulage is attached to one end of a set of skips and the other rope to the other end of the set. The tail rope hauls the empty skips into the inbye flat and the main rope hauls the loaded set out.

MAIN AND TAILGATE DRIVES

High capacity motors, situated at either end of the longwall face, used to power the armoured face conveyor that removes the cut coal from the coal face to the main drift conveyor.

MAIN ENTRY

A main road.

MAIN FAN

A mechanical ventilator installed at the surface; operates by either exhausting or blowing to induce airflow, through mine roadways and workings.

MAIN ROADWAYS

Roadways that are used as the means of primary access/egress, to supply materials, provide ventilation and enable coal to be conveyed to the surface.

MAINS FIRING

Firing shots using the electrical mains voltage.

MAN TRANSPORT

Vehicle or train to transport men to their work places.

MANAGER

Every colliery is in the charge of a professional mining engineer holding a 1st class certificate of competency and / or appointed by the owner; he is in charge of all operations.

MAN-CAR

Vehicle used for personnel transport underground.

MAN-HOLE

Refuge place alongside rail track in drifts etc.

MANIFOLD SYSTEM

Auxiliary ventilating system by which all faces are ventilated simultaneously with one auxiliary fan installation.

MAN-SHIFT

One man working one shift comprises a man shift. Output of coal in tonnes per man-shift is accepted as a measure of the efficiency of operations.

MARKETABLE RESERVE

Similar to coal reserve, a term used to describe the amount of coal that can physically be mined from a reserve at an acceptable cost, as defined in the JORC Code.

MATCH HEAD

The fuse head of an electric detonator.

MEASURING STICK

A device for measuring the required length of a prop.

MECHANISATION

Mining of coal by power-operated equipment instead of the older hand methods.

METALLURGICAL COAL

Coals, which are consumed in the production of pig iron, either via the coke oven process, direct injection (PCI) or by direct reduction.

METHANE (CH 4)

A gaseous compound of carbon and hydrogen naturally emitted from coal that can be explosive when mixed with air or oxygen between certain limits. Lighter than air, it comes out of the coal or surrounding strata.

METHANE MONITOR

An electronic instrument often mounted on a piece of mining equipment, that detects and measures the content of mine air.

MICKEY BLOCK

(slang) The off cut of timber left when a prop has been cut to size.

MILLING

(slang) The process of crushing coal to micron size to allow it to be pneumatically fired into a boiler or blast furnace.

MINE PLAN

A two-dimensional representation of the proposed or existing mine workings, usually prepared as part of an economic assessment of the coal reserve (through the JORC process).

MINE ROOF

The layer of hardened clay, limestone, sandstone, or other material that lies over the coalbed; rock or other material above the coal seam.

MINE RUN

The unscreened coal, just as it is mined, less dirt and slate.

MINER CABLE

The electrical cable running from the gate end box to the miner for the mining machine's power supply.

MINING LEASE

Title granted under the Mining Act 1992 that provides rights to mine a coal resource.

MINING METHOD

Coal mining operations can be either open cut or underground. There are then specific mining methods which describe the techniques used in more detail.

MISFIRE

(1) The failure of a blasting charge to explode when expected. (2) A charge which has failed to explode.

MOLOO

More or less in owners option. This term relates to the quantity of cargo which the vessel is chartered to carry on a voyage charter. It gives the shipowner the opportunity to increase the nominated quantity.

MONKEY

Skip stop in cage.

MRE INSTRUMENT

The gravimetric dust sampler with four-channel horizontal elutriator developed by the Mining Research Establishment of the National Coal Board, London, England.

MT

Million tonnes.

MTPA

Million tonnes per annum.

MUD CAP

A charge of high explosive fires in contact with the surface of a rock after being covered with a quantity of wet mud, wet earth or sand, without any borehole being used. Also termed adobe, dobie and sandblast (illegal in coal mining).

MULTIPLE SHOTFIRING

Firing a number of shots in a single round incorporating delay detonators.

MV

Medium Volatile coal, >22% and < 31% on dry mineral matter free basis

NAABSA

Not always afloat but safely aground. This term is an extension of the �always afloat� concept. In some ports where the bottom consists of soft mud, it may be agreed by the parties that the vessel may lie safely aground at low tide, �Not always afloat but safely aground�.

NAR

Net as received

NATIONALISATION

Ownership and operation of coal mines by the government instead of by private enterprise

NIPS

The devices at the end of the trailing cable of a mining machine used for connecting the trailing cable to the trolley wire and ground.

NITROGEN INERTISATION

The process of introducing inert gases into the vicinity of a heating or unstable atmosphere in order to lower the percentage of oxygen in the atmosphere.

NON-PERMITTED EXPLOSIVES

Explosives not on the "permitted list" for use in coal mines.

NOR

Notice of Readiness notice given a ship that it is ready to load or discharge its cargo.

NTHM

Net tons (short tons) of hot metal. 1 metric tonne = 1.10231 short tons

O.M.S.

Output per man-shift.

OIL BOTTLE

The bulb type container in the air line to lubricate compressed air driven machinery.

ONSETTER

Person in charge of loading of skips into the cage at the pit bottom or shaft inset.

OPENCAST

See "Open-cut".

OPEN-CUT

Open excavation made when extracting coal from the surface.

OPEN-CUT MINING

A type of mining where the overburden is removed to expose coal seams and allow their extraction by surface means.

OPEN-END PILLAR

A method of mining pillars in which no stump is left; the pockets driven are open on the gob side and the roof is supported by timber.

OPTION

The right but not the obligation to buy or sell an underlying asset.

OUTBURST

A violent displacement of broken coal at the face caused by excessive gas or earth pressure, often associated with areas of weakness in the coal.

OUTBYE

(1) The direction along a roadway away from the face. (2) Locations between the face and surface.

OUTCROP

That portion of a coal seam visible (wholly or in part) at the surface. (Also concealed outcrop)

OVERBURDEN

The material of any nature, consolidated or unconsolidated, that overlies a deposit; Top soil/strata overlying the coal seam.

OVERCAST

An airway built over the top, and at an angle to, another airway. This is necessary to separate intake and return airways in certain locations.

OVERPASS

A point where a conveyor passes over a transport ad or vice versa.

OVERWIND

When the cage, skip or dolly car in hoisting is not brought to rest at the appropriate place.

PACKER

Large piece of coal or topper placed on top of a skip full of coal to permit more coal to be loaded.

P

Phosphorus. To be avoided in coking coal because it accumulates in hot metal giving undesirable properties in resultant steel.

PACKING PIECE

Lid, wedge, caps, etc.

PANAMAX VESSEL

Vessels capable of carrying between 50 000 tonnes and 80 000 tonnes when fully loaded.

PAN

Section of armoured face conveyor.

PANEL (1)

A mine is broken up into a number of panels which are working places for each mining crew. (2) In mines liable to spontaneous combustion, panels are formed with a minimum number of roadways connecting them to the rest of the mine, to permit easy sealing in case of a fire.

PANIC BAR

A switch in the shape of a bar, used to cut off power at the machine in case of an emergency.

PARTIAL EXTRACTION

A continuous miner system of mining whereby some of the coal pillars in a panel, or parts thereof, are systematically extracted. the total recovery factor (coal extracted as a percentage of coal insitu) is generally in the range of 40-60%.

PASS-BYE

Siding on a roadway.

PCI COAL

Coals, which are suitable for direct injection into the blast furnace in a pulverised state. PCI replaces oil and displaces some quantity of coke. Traditionally, The PCI coal price is closely linked to thermal coal which will allow the blast furnace operator to reduce the overall cost of raw material by reducing the volume of coke needed to produce each tonne of hot metal.

PEAT

A dark brown or black deposit resulting from the partial decomposition of vegetal matter in marshes and swamps. It is the first step in the formation of coal.

PEDESTALS

Bearings on mine skips.

PENNY BAND

Thin dirt band (local name).

Per hatch per day

This expression may be used to calculate laytime with reference to the number of cargo hatches serving cargo compartments on the vessel. The number of hatches and their category will influence the rate at which cargo can be handled and therefore the rate of calculating laytime allowed for the cargo operations.

Per Workable hatch per day

This expression is more in the favour of the charterer than the preceding expression. The word workable qualifies the hatches that can be used in the calculations to those that can be worked because there is/or will be cargo below them.

PERMIT MANAGER

Manager of a small mine with 3rd class certificate.

PERMITTED EXPLOSIVE

Type of explosive approved under the mining regulations for use in coal mines/seams because its ignition temperature is below that required to ignite methane or coal dust.

PHOSPHORUS

To be avoided in coking coal because it accumulates in hot metal giving undesirable properties in resultant steel.

PICK OR HAND PICK

Cutting tip on continuous miner or other cutting machinery.

PICKING BELT

Slow moving conveyor on which coal from underground is dumped and from which waste is picked off by the men. The coal on reaching the end of the conveyor drops into a storage bin or wagon for despatch to market.

PIGGY BACK

A bridge conveyor.

PIGS FOOT

Tool used to extract dog spikes.

PIG IRON (also called hot metal)

The product of the reduction of iron ore in the blast furnace in the direct reduction furnace (Corex).

PILLAR

A block of coal left to hold up the roof and formed by driving a connected series of headings/bords and cut-throughs.

PILLAR EXTRACTION PANEL

A continuous miner system of mining whereby coal pillars are systematically extracted. the total recovery factor (coal extracted as a percentage of coal insitu) generally exceeds 60%.

PILLAR QUARTERING

A secondary system of mining, involving the formation of smaller sized pillars to improve overall coal recovery.

PINCH

A compression of the walls of a vein or the roof and floor of a coal seam so as to pinch out the coal.

PINNING

Roof bolting.

PIT

(1) Shaft giving access to the coal seam. (2) Also used to describe the whole coal mine.

PIT BOTTOM

Seam level in a mine shaft; An area where the mine drift used to access the coal seam intersects with mine workings.

PITCH

The inclination of a seam; the rise of a seam.

PLACE

Section of panel where coal is being produced.

PLACE CHANGE

A continuous miner system of mining used to develop a panel, typically 7 headings wide, that involves the continuous miner cutting out a designated length of roadway and flitting to another working face in a predetermined sequence within the panel. A roof bolting machine then moves into the place left by the miner and installs roof support concurrently with coal production in another roadway.

PLASTIC RANGE

Gieseler Plastometer reading.

PNEUMOCONIOSIS

A chronic disease of the lung arising from breathing coal dust.

POGO STICKS

Device for extending brattice (not a roof support).

POINTS

A switching mechanism to change direction at a railway junction.

POINTY PROPS

(ALSO A prop with a taper. cut on the end which goes to YIELD PROPS) the floor. The reduced area of prop crushes under pressure without breaking the prop.

POP (POP SHOOTING)

Breaking of large rocks by firing a charge within holes drilled into them.

Port - Discharge

A port where coal is unloaded from ships.

Port Load

A port where coal is loaded onto ships.

Port Load & Discharge

A port where coal can be either loaded or discharged.

PORTAL

Entrance to tunnel

POT ARSE

Lumps of coal or carbonaceous shale which are liable to fall from the roof without warning. They remain undetected ( unsupported) for some time after the coal is extracted and when fallen, have the appearance the name implies.

POWER PACK

Hydraulic pumps and oil reservoir required to operate hydraulic chocks, positioned outbye in main gate or in an outbye pump.

PREPARATION PLANT

A place where coal is cleaned, sized and prepared for market.

PRIMARY ROOF

The main roof above the immediate top. Thickness may vary from a few to several thousand metres.

PRIMER

The cartridge or part of an explosive charge which carries a detonator.

Producer

A company which operates coal mines.

PRODUCT DILUTION

Non-coal or poorer quality roof or floor coal that is mined and included in the coal product.

PROP

A timber roof support set tightly between the roof and the floor.

PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT

Equipment used by the underground employees to reduce the number or severity of accidents. The term embraces helmet, shin guards, hard-toed boots, goggles, gloves and the like.

PROTO

(1) A self-contained breathing apparatus equipped with an oxygen cylinder. Using this apparatus a person can work in foul air which would not support life. Term originates from original brand name. (2) Rescue training.

PROXIMATE ANALYSIS

(1)The analysis of coal or coke in terms of moisture, ash, volatile matter and (by difference) fixed carbon.

PUT OPTION

The right but not the obligation to sell an underlying asset.

PYRAMID CUT

See "Diamond Cut"

PYRITE

A hard, heavy, shiny, yellow. mineral, FeS2 or iron disulphide; generally in cubic crystals. Also called iron pyrites, fool's gold, sulphur balls. May be applied also to copper pyrites, tin pyrites, etc., but iron pyrite is the most common sulphied found in coal mines.

RAKE

(1) Number of skips/trollies connected together for transport at the one time as a unit. Also referred to as a "set". (2) Device used for cleaning cuttings out of a kerf cut by a cutting machine.

RAMP UP/DOWN

An adjustment to the mining rate to account for panel start-up or completion.

RAT HOLE (slang)

Small mine where coal was worked without regard to any designed layout.

RECOVERABLE RESERVE

Similar to coal reserve, a term used to describe the amount of coal that can physically be mined from a reserve at an acceptable cost, as defined in the JORC Code.

RED DOG

A non-volatile combustion product of the oxidation of coal or coal refuse. Most commonly applied to material resulting from in situ, uncontrolled burning of coal or coal refuse piles. It is similar to coal ash.

REFLECTANCE

Obtained by the microscopic examination of macerals. Fine coal (not pulverised) is set into a small block of epoxy-type material and one face is polished. Oil immersion of macerals at this polished face allows the measurement of reflectance using incident light.

REGULATOR

An adjustable opening used to control the quantity of air passing in a ventilation split.

RELIGHTER

Type of oil flame safety lamp.

RESCUE STATION

Building set apart for the training of men, the breathing apparatus and other equipment required when a mine is to be entered after an accident, such as an explosion or fire.

RESCUE SUPERINTENDENT

In charge of mines rescue within a district.

RESCUE TEAM

Men trained to use self-contained breathing apparatus.

RESIN BOLTING

A method of permanent roof support, in which steel rods are gouted with resin.

RESPIRABLE DUST

Dust particles 5 microns or less in size.

RETICULATION CABLE

Fixed cable for supplying electric power (not a trailing cable).

RETREAT

Exploitation in the direction opposite from development. Usually relative to the location of the main entry or shaft.

RETURN (AIRWAY)

Opening along which air returns from the working face(s).

RETURN AIR

Air or ventilation that has passed through the workings and may contain gas or dust.

RETURN WHEEL

Reverses direction of haulage rope.

RETURNS

Roadways used for the- movement of return air from the face back to the main fan.

RIB

The name given to the coal walls of the roadway. These are the sides of the pillars.

RIDER

A thin seam of coal overlying a thicker one. Also, a person who rides with the trains of cars; e.g rope rider, trip rider, swamper, etc.

RIPPER

A coal (or other soft ore) extraction machine that works by tearing the coal from the face.

RISING MAIN

Pipes in shaft or drift delivering drainage water to surface.

ROB

To extract pillars of coal previously left for support.

ROCK DUST

Limestone dust sprayed over roof, rib and face, and throughout the mine to render exposed coal dust inert.

ROLL

(1) Rounded ridge of stone in the floor or roof of a seam. Rolls are common in the Southern Coalfields of New South Wales. (2) A sudden change in level of the roof or floor (or both) when working a seam.

ROM

Raw coal as mined that has not undergone any screening, crushing or beneficiation.

ROUND

(1) A series of shots connected and fired at the one time. (2) The selected pattern of holes drilled for multiple shotfiring.

RUBBING SURFACE

The total area (top, bottom and sides) of an airway.

RUN OF MINE

Raw coal as mined that has not undergone any screening, crushing or beneficiation.

S

Sulphur. Forms sulphur dioxide during coal combustion.

SAFETY LAMP

Lamp that can be used with safety in a gassy mine. The original oil safety lamp has now been replaced for illumination, by the electric lamp operated by a storage battery. Used for detection of gases and oxygen deficiency in the mine.

SAFETY SWITCH

A sectionalizing that also provides shunt protection in blasting circuits between the blasting switch and the shot area.

SB or SA

Safe berth or safe anchorage. This term describes the specific place the charterer may send the vessel for loading/discharging. A safe berth is one which a vessel can reach, remain at, and depart from, without being exposed to danger which cannot be avoided by good navigation and seamanship.

SCOOP

A rubber tyre, battery or diesel-operated piece of - equipment designed for cleaning runways and hauling supplies.

SCRAPER

(1) A metal rod with a fan shaped projection at one end used for cleaning shotholes. (2) A device for cleaning the surface of a belt conveyor. (3) A hand tool for cleaning in awkward places. (4) A machine (or its bucket) used for loading loose material or leveling roadways.

SEAL

(1) Permanent or semi-permanent closure of a roadway - usually a brick wall. (2) The concrete blocks used to build a seal.

SEAM

Layer or bed (of coal).

SECOND MEANS OF EGRESS

The alternative negotiable roadways from the working area of the mine which can be used in an emergency.

SECONDARY ROOF

The roof strata immediately above the coalbed, requiring support during the excavating of coal.

SECTION

Working area (as in panel headings).

SELF-CONTAINED BREATHING

A self-contained supply of oxygen used during

SELF-HEATING

Occurs when coal (in a pillar, fall, goaf area or stockpile) oxidises and produces heat at a greater rate than can be dissipated by the strata or air current so that the temperature rises until eventually active fire results.

SELF-RESCUER

Worn by miners and used in the event of a suspected explosion. Used to remove lethal quantities of carbon monoxide from the breathed air.

SEMI-SOFT COAL

A type of coking coal that can be blended with a hard coking coal to produce an acceptable hard coke.

SENIORITY RULE

Promotion of employees from job to job according to length of service on a particular mine. Also used in retrenchment of workers �first in last off�.

SET

(1) Number of skips connected together for transport at the one time as a unit or train. Also referred to as a "rake". (2) Complete unit of a roof support system.

SET-RIDER

Person in charge of the "set" (of skips). Also, in "dolly car driver".

SHAFT

An opening, usually vertical, connecting the surface with the underground workings.

SHAFT MINE

A mine which has shafts for entries.

SHATTER CUT

See "Burn Cut".

SHEAR

(1) Vertical cut, about 17 cm wide, made in the coalface by the cutting machine. (2) In longwall operations it refers to the cut of coal taken along the complete longwall face (approx. 0.85,m thick). (3) Continuous miner cutting from roof to floor or floor to roof.

SHEARER

A mining machine for longwall faces that uses a rotating action to "shear" the material from the face as it progresses along the face.

SHEX and SHINC

These terms are used in the charterparty referring to how laytime is calculated and accounted for. SHEX means �Sundays and Holidays excepted�. SHINC means �Sundays and Holidays included� in the laytime allowed to the charterer.

Shipper

A company, or individual, which sells coal. It is usually a producer or a trader.

SHOE

Metal skid placed under wheel of rail mounted skip to assist braking.

SHORTWALL

Method of mining using larger than normal pillars, but not as large as a longwall.

SHOTFIRER

Person whose duty it is to place the explosive in a hole drilled in the face of the coal and then fire the explosive.

SHUNT

Siding or pass bye.

SHUNTER

Person who assists the locomotive driver when required.

SHUNTING

Parking in secondary roadways allowing other traffic to pass.

SHUTTLE CAR

An electrically driven machine used to transfer the coal from the continuous miner to the start of a conveyor belt.

SHUTTLE CAR

ANCHOR Device to secure a trailing cable to a prop or other- attachment.

SIDE STEP

The process of moving longwall equipment a relatively short distance within the same panel to avoid mining through a specific section of the panel, e.g. to avoid mining through a major geological feature or mining beneath a sensitive surface feature.

SIDING OVER

Removing the coal from a pillar in a narrow strip along the width of the pillar.

SIDLER

Employee who horse wheels skips from a face flat to the main flat, or clipping station.

SIMULTANEOUS SHOTFIRING

When a round of shots is fired using instantaneous detonators only.

SINTER

An agglomeration of iron ore and coke breeze (coke fines) and/or anthracite for charging into the blast furnace.

SKID

A track-mounted vehicle used to hold trips or cars from running out of control. Also it is a flat-bottom personnel or equipment carrier used in low coal.

SKIP

A truck. A wheeled rectangular container or box, made of wood or sheet steel into which the coal is loaded for transport purposes. Capacity varies from about .5 tonnes in narrow seams, to more than 10 tonnes in fully mechanised mines. The skips may be taken to the surface in the cage, and after "dumping" at the "brace" return empty in the cage. The term is also used to describe a large steel container, which is attached to the winding rope and is used for the bulk haulage of coal in a shaft, thus eliminating the necessity of transporting the skips up and down the shaft.

SKIRTING

Metal or rubber like material strips set along a conveyor belt at loading points to prevent spillage.

SKIRTY

A pillar that is being skirted.

SLAB

(1) A bar of half round bush timber - roof support. (2) A sawn slab of timber used for a variety of purposes in a mine.

SLAB

(1) A bar of half round bush timber � roof support. (2) A sawn slab of timber used for a variety of purposes in a mine.

SLACK

Small or fine coal.

SLANT

Roadway driven at a slight angle to the main roadway.

SLEEPER

Sawn timber used to support rails.

SLOUGHING

The slow crumbling and falling away of material in roof, rib and face.

SLUSH

To fill mine workings with sand, culm etc by hydraulic methods.

SMOKO

Ten minute tea break.

SMOOTH BLASTING

Method of drill hole placement when an excavation is to be made to close tolerances when shotfiring.

SMP

(Subsidence Management Plan). Detailed environmental assessment and monitoring, requiring early mine planning to determine the impact of proposed mining prior to receiving consent to mine a particular area.

SOCKET

See �Butt�.

SOFT COKING COAL

Coals, which make soft (or weak) coke when coked alone in a coke oven.

SOLLAR

(1) Platform provided in a ladder-way. (2) Steel sheet or flat timber boards put down before coal is broken to permit easier shovelling by hand.

SP

Safe port. The term is self explanatory. In both time charters and voyage charters the charterer must order the vessel to a �safe port�, or the charterer becomes liable for any damage caused to the shipowner.

SPECIFIC ENERGY(CALORIFIC VALUE)

The energy in kilocalories released per kg of coal burned.

SPLICE

To join - conveyor belt, haulage rope.

SPLINT

(1) A roadway driven through a pillar in order to create a fender for lift extraction. (2) Part of a mine which is separately ventilated.

SPRAG

(1) A piece of timber placed between a prop and the rib to prevent the rib falling. (2) Wooden or steel spike placed in skip wheel spokes to prevent the axle from turning and control rate of descent down grades.

STAB HOLE

A short hole drilled into the centre of a cut and fired with or before the cut to shatter the rock near the collars of the cut hole.

STEAMING COAL

Coal used to provide heat for steam raising as part of the electricity generation process.

STEEL

A drill rod.

STEMMING

Sand, clay or mixtures of both and sometimes water, used to confine the explosive charge in a shothole.

STEP AROUND

The process of moving longwall equipment a relatively short distance within the same panel to avoid mining through a specific section of the panel, e.g. to avoid mining through a major geological feature or mining beneath a sensitive surface feature.

STICKY TOPS

When the top coal does not part from the roof readily (also see "Brat").

STONE DUST

Crushed limestone (calcium carbonate) added to coal dust to reduce its potential to explode.

STONE DUSTING

Operation of spraying finely ground limestone or other non- combustible and non-siliceous dust onto coal. The limestone particles mix with the coal dust and reduce the possibility of a coal dust explosion.

STOOK

Small blocks of coal left during pillar extraction.

STOPER

A drilling machine for boring vertically upwards (or sub- vertically) holes for shotfiring or roof bolting.

STOPPING

A structure (temporary or permanent) built across a roadway to direct the air flow.

STOPPINGS

Ventilation structures used to segregate air within underground workings.

STRAP ROPE (BOUND ROPE)

Wire rope conveying power down shaft.

STRIKE

Cessation of operations because of the refusal of employees to work.

STRIKE (OF SEAM)

Direction of intersection of seam with a horizontal surface. Direction at 90 degrees to the dip of the seam.

STRIPPERS

Shotholes placed in such a manner as to enlarge an existing excavation.

STRIPPING

(1) Removing coal. (2) Also used to describe the removal of overburden.

STUMP

Union dues payable to an official on pay-day. Originally payment was made on a tree stump table.

SUBSIDENCE

In mining, the deformation of the ground mass surrounding a mine due to the mining activity.

SUBSIDENCE MANAGEMENT PLAN

Detailed environmental assessment and monitoring, requiring early mine planning to determine the impact of proposed mining prior to receiving consent to mine a particular area.

SUB-STATION

Electricity supply point for a district.

SULPHUR

Forms sulphur dioxide during coal combustion.

SUMP

Water reservoir (usually in seam).

SUMP IN

To propel a coal cutting machine or continuous miner into the coal when starting a new cut.

SUPERINTENDENT

Mine superintendent with manager's qualifications in charge of a group of collieries of any one company (legal definition).

SUPER PANEL

A continuous miner system of mining used to develop a panel, typically 7 headings wide, that involves the concurrent use of two continuous bolter miners in the same panel to increase productivity.

SUPER PLACE CHANGE

A continuous miner system of mining used to develop a panel, typically 7 headings wide, that involves the concurrent use of two continuous miners and a mobile bolter in the same panel to increase productivity.

SURGING

Using two shuttle cars to complete the delivery of coal from face to loading point by transferring coal from one car to another.

SWAD

Salt water arrival draft This term is a description of a vessel�s draft in salt water when it arrives at a port where the water density is that of salt water.

SWAP

An agreement to exchange cash flows in the future according to an agreed formula.

SWEEP

Curve in rail track.

SWILLY (ALSO SWALLY)

A depression in a roadway which usually fills with water.

SWING-SHIFT (a)

A system in which workers rotate working shifts for different periods of time. (b) Refers to a shift placed between afternoon and dogwatch shifts.

SYLVESTER

Manual pulling device.

SYMPATHETIC DETONATION

When the explosive charge in a hole is detonated by the shock of a charge exploding in an adjacent hole detonated earlier in the series of a round of shots.

SYNCLINE

A trough-like fold in rocks.

TAILPIECE

Also known as foot section pulley. The pulley or roller in the tail or foot section of a belt conveyor around which the belt runs.

TAKE-UP

Belt tension.

TAMPING

The act of consolidation or packing explosives or stemming in a shothole.

TAMPING ROD

A wooden rod used for tamping shotholes.

THERMAL COAL

which are normally used for the generation of heat for steam raising and other general industry applications. These coals generally do not exhibit any coking properties and therefore would not make coke in a conventional coke oven. However, thermal coals can be used as PCI coals provided they have levels of ash, moisture, volatile matter and sulphur which make them suitable for the production of blast furnace pig iron.

THROUGH-STEEL

A system of dust collection for rock or roof drilling. The drill steel is hollow and a vacuum is applied at the base, pulling the dust through the steel and into a receptacle on the machine.

THROW-ON

(a)Short rails placed alongside the rails of a skip haulage track to deflect back on to the rails any skips that have left the track. (b) A lever mechanism used to change the points.

Time Charterparty

Is an agreement/ charterparty that allows for the hire of a vessel for a stated period of time. Time charter durations can vary from a single voyage on time charter terms, to long periods of five to ten years.

TIPPLER

Rotating frame used for automatically discharging coal from skips.

TOMMY DODD TURN

Rollers put in a curve on a rope road to conduct skips around the turn.

TOPPER

Large lump of coal.

TOP SIZE

Maximum size of saleable coal.

TORQUE WRENCH

A wrench that indicates, as on a dial, the amount of torque exerted in tightening a bolt.

TORQUEMETER

A device for measuring the actual torque transmitted to the drilling head and/or to the inserted roofbolt.

TM

Total Moisture.

TRACK

Railway line underground or surface.

TRACKLESS MINING

Use of mechanical equipment mounted on caterpillar tracks or rubber tyres and therefore not dependent on the laying of rail track.

Trader

A company or individual which trades in coal, usually taking positions as a principal.

TRADEABLE CARBON CREDITS

Derivative instruments that can be traded between scheme participants that allow the authorised holder to emit a specified amount of greenhouse gas, typically expressed as units of one tonne of CO2.

TRAILING CABLE

Heavily insulated electric cable used to bring power to an electrically operated machine, such as a shuttle car or continuous miner. The cable trails along the ground from a plug-in power load centre or receptacle, to the machine.

TRAM

See "Flit".

TRAM TUNNEL

An opening, horizontal or inclined, at a moderate le, giving access to a mine. Also termed adit.

TRAMMING

(1) Pushing by hand the full or empty skips. (2) Moving mobile machinery under its own power.

TRANSFER POINT

Flow of coal from one belt conveyor to another.

TRANSFORMER

Electrical unit to convert voltage.

TRANSPORT

See man transport.

Transportation Leg

The Transportation Leg defines the journey of coal from the mine by various means to a plant which could be a barge loader, a port, a rail loader or local power station or other plant as defined in the database.

TRAPPER

Person whose duty it is to open and close a ventilating door or doors on a roadway.

TRIBUTE

(Hist. only).A contract arranged between the manager and a group of miners for the extraction of coal at a defined location. Payment is usually based on the quantity of coal won.

TRIMMERS

The outside row of holes in a round of shots, placed so as to form the desired shape of the excavation.

Trimming

When certain bulk commodities are carried as cargoes on board vessels they have to be �trimmed� for safety and to maintain the ship�s stability, or to make additional room for more cargo. Trimming costs money for labour and the charterparty can specify who will pay trimming costs, ie FOBT.

TROUGHING IDLERS

The idlers, located on the upper framework of a belt conveyor, which support the loaded belt. They are so mounted that the loaded belt forms a trough in the direction of travel, which reduces spillage and increases the carrying capacity of a belt for a given width.

TRUSS BOLT

Roof support (bolt) which is put into the roof at an angle. The anchoring section of bolt is in solid roof above a pillar. (see �Roof Truss�).

TT

Turn Time. �Turn� refers to the sequence in which the port authorities may allow a ship to berth for loading/discharging. Turn time is usually expressed in the coal trade as 24 or 12 hours. TT meaning the laytime dose not commence until expiration of the said hours, but usually accompanied by �USC� (unless sooner commenced).

TUB

Skip.

TUMBLER

Tippler.

TUNGSTEN

See "Pick."

TURN

Set of points in rail track.

ULTIMATE ANALYSIS

The analysis of a coal expressed in terms of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, sulphur and oxygen. High nitrogen and sulphur contents can create high levels of NOx and SOx which are serious pollutants.

UNDERCAST

An air course carried under another air course or roadway.

UNDERCUT

(1) To cut below or undermine the coal face by chipping away the coal by mining machine. (2) As for (1) above but part of the mining cycle when using explosives to remove the coal. Creates an open area for the coal to expand to when the explosives are detonated.

UNDERGROUND

A type of mining where the coal seam is accessed by shaft or drift into underground workings.

UNDERGROUND BIN

A large space similar in shape to a surface product bin but excavated in the strata above or below the coal seam.

UNDERMANAGER

A position holding responsibilities defined by the Coal Mines Regulation Act. An undermanager is usually the person in charge of underground mining operations on a shift and is next in authority under a manager or deputy manager. Requiring a 2nd class certificate of competency.

UNDULATION

Variation in the level of the floor of a coal seam (like waves).

UPCAST

Shaft or other mine opening through which air returns to the surface after ventilating the mine workings.

UPTHROW (FAULT)

When the seam is displaced upwards.

VENTURI

A specially shaped orifice employed in devices where the energy released by the expansion of high pressure air, steam or water can be used to do useful work (air movement, pumping, dusting, etc.).

Voyage Charterparty

Is an agreement/charterparty for the hire of a vessel for the carriage of specific goods, between certain ports. Voyage charters are common for bulk cargoes, and in the tramping service.

VM (Volatile Matter)

The percentage of coal which is lost as volatile matter (gases) when coal is incinerated under standard conditions.

W STRAP (ALSO SKELP)

A ribbed steel plate used as a cross roof support from the material from and held in position by roof bolts. which they were originally manufactured)

WANT

An area within the horizon of a coal seam and devoid of coal due to non-deposition.

WASHOUT

That portion of a coal seam which subsequent to deposition has been eroded and is now an area of deficiency.

WASTE

(1) Shredded fabric used as rag type cleaner. (2) Worked out and abandoned part of a mine.

WATER MONEY

An additional specified amount of money paid to a person called upon to work in a wet place.

WEDGE

(1) A wedge shaped piece of timber to tighten props into place. (2) Steel wedge for anchoring slot and wedge roof bolts.

WELL

Same meaning as "Sump".

WELSH BORD

Method of working.

WELSH SET

Method of timbering involving angled struts.

WET AND DRY BULB AIR TEMPERATURE

Wet temperature of the air is obtained by using a thermometer around the bulb of which is wrapped a piece of open-weave cotton cloth, dipping into a small reservoir of water. The dry bulb temperature is obtained by a similar thermometer without the wetted cotton cloth. To determine humidity.

WHITEDAMP

Carbon monoxide gas mixed with air.

WIDOWMAKER (slang)

Large hanging (or fallen) lump of stone or coal.

WINDBLAST

Air blast caused by roof fall displacing air.

WINDLASS

Simple hoisting device comprising a horizontal cylindrical barrel, on which the haulage rope is wound. The barrel is supported about 1 metre above the ground and is turned manually by handles at each end.

WINDROW

The berm of material on the edge of dumps for trucks to back to when dumping overburden. Also, material on each side of haul roads used when grading.

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