Coal Mine Terminology taken from

Coal Dust In My Blood: The Autobiography of a Coal Miner

by Bill Johnstone

ADIT
A nearly horizontal passage from the surface by which a mine is entered and through which water is removed. It has just sufficient slope to insure drainage.

AFTERDAMP
A gaseous mixture resulting from an explosion.

AIR CROSSING
An overcast. A bridge (tunnel) that carried one air way over another in a mine.

AIR DOOR
A door for regulating the air current throughout the working of the mine.

AIR-SHAFT
A shaft used expressly for ventilation.

ANEMOMETER
An instrument used for measuring the velocity of a ventilating current by means of a revolving vane wheel.

ANTHRACITE
Hard mineral coal formed of almost pure carbon with few volatile hydrocarbons. Burns slowly with little flame.

BAND
A thin stratum of clay or stone in a seam of coal.

BARRIER PILLAR
A solid block of coal left unworked between two mines as a protection against an influx of water.

BATTEN
A piece of board used in timbering; usually an inch thick and eight to twelve inches wide.

BEEHIVE OVEN
A circular, arched, brick oven in which coke is made without the recovery of any byproducts.

BENCH
The bottom part of a seam when the holing has been done in the middle.

BIT
The cutting tool of a mining machine.

BITUMINOUS
A soft mineral coal, low in carbon content, yielding many volatile hydrocarbons. Burns with a yellow, smoky flame.

BLACKDAMP
A mixture of air and carbon dioxide (CO2) or air with an excess content of nitrogen (N2).

BLAST
To bring down and shatter coal or rock by explosives.

BLASTING CAP
Detonator; a small, metal cylinder containing fulminite of mercury, set in high explosives to ignite the charge.

BLOOM
The oxidized and decomposed outcrop of coal seam, or indicating traces of a coal bed.

BLOW OUT
In blasting; a charge that blows out the stemming without dislodging any material.

BLUE-CAP
The blue halo of ignited methane around the flame of a safety lamp.

BONE
Slatey or carbonated shale found in coal seams.

BONNET
The metal cover for the gauzes in a safety lamp.

BOOSTER FAN
A fan used to suck in the intake air on an airway and force it further into the workings.
BRASS
Iron pyrites in coal (term used in north of England).

BRATTICE
A canvas cloth used to deflect air currents; usually used near the working face and is of temporary nature.

BREAST AUGER
A drilling auger; driven forward by a breast plate which rests against the miners body.

BAIT
Lunch carried to the mine (term used in north England).

BRIQUETS
Fuel made of fine coal pressed into brick form.

BROWN COAL
Lignite; a fuel between peat and bituminous coal.

BUG DUST
The fine coal produced by a cutting machine.

BUGGY
A small mine car.

BUNTONS
Horizontal timbers in a shaft which carry guides; also used o support the walls of the shaft.

BRUSHER
One who works at blasting and removing the rock of a brushing.

BRUSHING
A thickness of stone removed to make sufficient height in a roadway to provide clearance for moving miners, mules and machinery.

CABIN
A small room in a mine for the use of officials.

CAGE
A platform on which men and mine cars are transported in a vertical shaft.



CAGE GUIDES
Vertical lengths of timber or steel on which the cage to prevent it swinging from side to side.

CAGER
The person who puts the cars on the cage at the top or bottom of the shaft.

CANCH
Same as brushing (term used in north England).

CAP
A short piece of flat wood used in timbering and placed on top of a prop. A cap piece.

CAP ROCK
A layer of carbonaceous rock often found between the coal seam and the true roof of the mine; usually varies between two to six inches in thickness.

CAR
A wheeled vehicle used to transport coal from the workings to the surface.

CARBIDE
A compound of carbon and calcium which, with the addition of water, produces acetylene gas; used in miners lamps.

CARBIDE LAMP
One which uses carbide and water to produce an acetylene flame for illumination.

CARTRIDGE
A waterproof cylinder filled with explosives; the charge for blasting.

CAVE or CAVE-IN
A collapsing of the roof in a mine.

CAVILS
Lots drawn by the hewer and putter on piecework each quarter year to determine their working places in the mine (term used in north of England).

CHARGE
Amount of explosives used in one blast or shot.

CHARGING THE OVENS
When the coke ovens are filled with raw coal to produce coke.

CHECK
A metal token used to identify each underground worker; or a token to record each car loaded by each particular miner.

CHECK-WEIGHMAN
A man appointed and paid by the miners to check the weighing of coal at the surface.

CHOCK or COG
A square pillar for supporting the roof; constructed of timbers laid up cross-ways in alternate layers, the center being filled with waste material.

CHOCK
A tapering piece of wood placed in the kerf to keep it open until ready for blasting.

CLEAT
Vertical cleavage in coal seams.

COAL CUTTER
A machine used to undercut a coal seam; one who operates such a machine.

COAL DUST
Very fine powdered coal.

COKE
Carbon left after the volatile materials have been driven off. This was done in coke ovens where the coal was roasted to produce coke. Coke used in smelting.

COLLIERY
The whole mine plant, including the mine and all adjuncts.

CONGLOMERATES
A sedimentary rock often found in the strata of coal fields; consists of pebbles
and rounded rocks cemented together with finer materials sometimes called millstone.

COURSING THE AIR
Conducting air through the workings by means of doors and brattices.

CREEP
The upheaval of the floor, due to a tender or unstable floor, or the sagging of the roof of the mine due to the weight of the unsupported rock.

CROSSCUT
A tunnel driven through or across the rock strata from one seam to another; a small passageway driven at right angles to the main entry to connect to a parallel entry or counter entry.

CURTAIN
A sheet of brattice cloth used to deflect air current.

CUTTER BAR
That part of a cutting machine that works its way into the coal carrying the cutter chain with its cutter bits.

DAMPS
See BLACKDAMP, FIREDAMP, WHITE DAMP and AFTERDAMP.

DEAD WORK
Work that is not directly productive, such as cleaning up rock falls and retimbering airways.

DETACHING HOOK
A self-acting mechanical device for releasing the winding rope from a cage when the latter is raised beyond a certain point in the headframe; the rope being released, the cage remains suspended in the frame.

DIP
A down-sloping entry tunnel.

DOBSON HOIST
A small, compressed-air hoist used on Vancouver Island; built in Nanaimo.

DOG
A short, heavy, iron bar used as a drag behind a car or trip of cars when ascending a slope to prevent them running back in case of an accident.

DOWNCAST
The opening through which the fresh air is drawn, or forced, into the mine; the intake.

DRIFT
A tunnel driven in rock from one seam to another.

DRIPPERS
Water percolating through the roof of the mine into the working areas.


DRIVER
The worker who drives horses from a gathering point to the mechanical haulage (term used in north England). On Vancouver Island used more generally for anyone who drives mules or horses underground.

DROPPERS
Water dripping from the roof.

DRUMMY
When the roof of the mine sounds loose, open or weak, when struck by a tool to test the condition of the road.

ENGINE PLANE
An incline where the hoist is at top and the trips are hauled up by power and lowered by gravity, pulling the rope after them.

ENTRY
A main haulage road, gangway or airway; an underground passage used for haulage or ventilation.

FACE
A fracture that breaks the continuity of a coal seam.

FIREBOSS
A section foreman responsible for blasting and supervising a loading crew, haulage crew and several brushers on a long wall face. The total crew might be 16 men. Also inspects the mine for gas.

FIREDAMP
A mixture of air and methane gas (CO4).

FIRST BREAK
When the roof of a new longwall face first subsides as the areas of gob or unsupported roof become to large to support the weight of rock above; movement of the overlying strata in the areas where the coal has been extracted. Sometimes called creep or squeeze.

FRIABLE ROOF
Very unstable materials in the roof of the workings, easily crumbled rock material in the roof.

GATHERING POINT
Place in the mine from where trips of cars are made up for their journey to the shaft bottom.

GOB or GOAF
That part of of the mine from which coal has been mined; the space that is left is usually filled with waste.

HANG the MONKEY
Term applied when the mine cage is lifted too high and the safety hooks leave it suspended in the head gear above its normal level.

HEADFRAME
A structure of wood or steel erected over a shaft to support the pulley wheels by which the cages are raised and lowered; also called Headgear.

HEAVING
The gradual lifting of the floor of a seam where coal has been removed.

HELPER
A miner's assistant, or one who works under a trained workman.

HEWER
A collier who cuts coal by hand.

HOIST
A machine used to hoist coal underground or to haul the cages in shafts; normally driven by electricity or compressed air.

HOLING
The portion of the seam removed by hewing or cutting to facilitate the breaking down of the coal.

INBYE
In a direction inward toward the workings, or away from the shaft bottom.

INCLINE
A rising entry tunnel (haulage).

IRON MAN
A cutting machine.

KEPS or KEEPS
Catches to hold the cage when it is at a landing other than the shaft bottom.

KERF
The undercut made to assist the breaking of coal.


KNEEPADS
Leather or rubber protection worn over the knees when working in thin seams.

LAGGING
Timber planks or slabs used for immediate support at the face; used as crosspieces on longwall timbering. (see Strap)

LATCHES
A synonym for railway switches or turnouts used in the mine trackage.

LEG
A wooden prop supporting one end of a cross-timber.

LEVEL-see ENTRY

LIGNITE COAL
Soft coal or brown coal; the more recently deposited carboniferous materials; often retains a wood-like structure and forms a fuel with properties between peat and bituminous coal.

LOADER
A miner who shovels coal onto the conveyors along the longwall face or in the stalls.

LONGWALL
A system of working a seam in which the whole seam is extracted, leaving only pillars supporting the shafts and main roads. The longwall is often 300 or more feet long. This system is used in thin (2.5-5 foot) coal seams.

McGINTY
Three sheaves-wheels in a pully or block-over which a rope is passed to take a course like a letter M. The friction causes the rope to slide with difficulty. Used for lowering loaded cars from the face down steep roads.

MANHOLE
A refuge hole cut in the side of an entry as a place of refuge in case of runaway trips.

MEASURE
A series of rock strata having some common features; a general term for the sedimentary rock within a coal field.



MINER
A worker in a mine with a valid certificate of competency as a miner.

MUCKER
One who shovels the bug dust, or fine coal, produced by the cutting machine clear of the face in longwall mining.

NAKED LIGHT
A candle or any form of light that is not a safety lamp.

NIGGERHEAD
A hard concentration of carbonate of iron found as boulders in seams of the Comox coal field.

NUT COAL
Small coal that will pass through screens with openings that vary from one-half to two inches.

OPEN CAST
Coal mining on the surface of the ground ,i.e., without any cover.

OVERCAST
A passageway through which the ventilating current is carried over another roadway.

OVERMAN
One who is in charge of the mine when the men are in it.

PACKWALL
A wall of stone or rubbish built at the side of roadways to support the roof.

PEA COAL
Small pieces of coal about one-half to three-quarters of an inch in size.

PICKING TABLE
A shaking or movable platform on which shale is hand picked from the coal; a sorting table.

PILLAR
A section of the seam left between stalls or rooms while the coal in the stalls is being extracted. Pillars can be 30 to 50 feet in width. Ultimately as much of the pillar as possible is removed after the original stalls are worked out. The size of the pillars is determined by the stability of the surrounding rock.


PILLAR and ROOM
A system of working by which solid blocks of coal are left on either side of the entries and the rooms where the coal is extracted to act as supports. When the rooms are worked out, the pillars are mined. Used to mine thick coal seams; sometimes called pillar and stall.

PIT
Term for a colliery; the coal mine in general.

PITBOSS
Holder of a second-class mining certificate and in charge of a shift in a particular mine; second to the manager in authority and deals with the day-to-day problems in the mine; an under-manager.

PIT PROP
A round piece of timber used as a temporary support for the roof of the mine.

POP SHOT
A shot in a shallow hole in which only a small amount of explosive is used.

PUNCHER or PUNCHING MACHINE
An undercutting machine, driven by compressed air, that breaks the coal with a reciprocating action.

PUTTER
The worker who drives the pony hauling the cars from the face to a gathering point in the mine (term used in north of England).

REGULATOR
A door in a mine with a shutter that can be opened or closed to vary the volume of air in a section of the mine.

RETURN AIR
Air that has passed through the workings.

ROOM
A stall, breast or working place, where coal is mined.

SAFETY LAMP
A lamp in which the flame is protected by fine mesh gauzes so that a mixture of firedamp can be detected by its burning inside the lamp; generally used to detect the presence of dangerous gases in the mine by the miner observing the colour and character of the flame.


SCAB or BLACKLEG
A worker who works contrary to union order or during a strike.

SCRAPER
A tool used to scrape the dirt from a borehole.

SCREENINGS
The fine coal that passes through the screens when it is being sorted to various sizes.

SCREENS
Device or system for separating coal into different sizes, or grades, for marketing.

SEAM
The deposit of coal in the strata.

SEEPAGE
Ground-water, or run-off, entering the mine workings and accumulating in the lower levels.

SET OF TIMBER
Usually three pieces of timber, consisting of two legs and a crosspiece, used in supporting the roof of the mine along the haulageways or other passageways.

SHAFT
A vertical or nearly vertical hole in which the men and materials are hoisted and through which air is drawn into the mine.

SHEAVES
Bundles of cut grain bound in the middle for drying, loading and stacking.

SHIFTBOSS
Miner in charge of a particular shift, e.g., afternoon shift; under the pitboss in the hierarchy of mine supervision.

SHOOTING
Blasting in a mine.

SHOT LIGHTER
A man appointed by the manager to fire shots in a section of the mine.

SLACK
Fine coal; the fine coal resulting from handling and degradation of soft coal.
SLICKENSIDE
The polished face of a fault plane in the strata.

SLOPE
A roadway driven to the dip of the seam as opposed to an incline.

SPRAG
A short wooden prop set at an angle to support the coal during the operation of holing; a short piece of hardwood pointed at the ends to act as a brake when placed in the spokes of a car.

SQUEEZE
The gradual downward thrust of the roof of the mine where the coal has been removed.

STALL
A working compartment in a coal mine usually used in seams 6 feet or more in thickness (stalls would be approximately 14 feet wide); sometimes called a room.

STEMMING
The material, usually clay or rock dust, used to tamp shot holes when blasting.

STOOK
(noun) An upright arrangement of sheaves, intended to speed up drying in the field.

STOOK
(verb) To build such arrangements of sheaves.

STRAP
Pieces of wood, usually six feet long, six inches wide and two inches thick, used as crosspieces in timbering over the props on a longwall face; also used between the stringers and entries or levels; also called lagging.

STOPPING
AN airtight wall built across a passage to seal it off; or, in a crosscut tunnel, to prevent short-circuiting the flow of air in the mine.

STOWING
The debris of mining thrown into the waste area behind the face to help support the roof.


STRINGER
The crosspiece of timber of a three-piece set used in supporting the roof of the mine; also called collar or baulk.

TAMP
To fill a drillhole, after inserting the charge, with clay or lime dust which is rammed hard as it is put in the hole.

TAMPING BAR
A copper tipped bar for ramming or compacting the material used in tamping to prepare for blasting; also called a tamping rod.

THREE-PIECE-SET
A support, comprising two legs and a crosspieces, used to prevent subsidence of the roof in entries or levels.

THROW
The vertical distance between two ends of a seam displaced by faulting.

TIMBERMAN
One whose job is exclusively setting timbers, usually of a repair nature in haulage roads and airways.

TIPPLE
The dump testle and tracks at the mouth of a shaft or slope, where the output of a mine is dumped, screened and loaded: also applied to the whole structure of the headframe containing the tipple.

TRAPPER
A boy employed underground to attend ventilation doors, opening and closing them as cars pass through them ( term used in north of England).

TRIP
A number of coupled cars taken at one time.

TRIP RIDER or ROPE RIDER
A worker who rides on a trip to attend to rope attachments and signals.

TUB
A mine car.

TUGGER
A small portable winch.


TURNOUT
A siding or passing place on a haulage road.

UNDERSEA WORKINGS
Workings that follow the seam under the sea. (Some mine workings at Nanaimo extended under the sea).

UPCAST
The shaft through which the return air ascends.

WASHER (WASHERY)
Plant where the coal is washed and graded: heavy waste material is separated while light waste is floated off.

WATER MONEY
Extra pay given to the miners for "working wet", i.e. in places there is water in the mines. (In the first contract at Cumberland between Canadian Collieries(Dunsmuir) Ltd., and the United Mine Workers of America, the differential was fifty cents a day).

WHITEDAMP
Air in a mine containing carbon monoxide (CO): a product of incomplete combustion: extremely poisonous.

WORKING
General term used to describe the areas in which coal is being mined.

WORKING WET
Where the working areas of the mine are particularly wet from seepage, (see also Water money).


















































































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