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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

HERBERT HOOVER, Secretaxy

BUREAU OF MINES

SCOTT TURNER, Director

MINING OF THIN COAL BEDS IN THE
ANTHRACITE REGION OF
PENNSYLVANIA

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PRICE 30 CENTS

Sold only by the Superintendent of Documents, V. S. Government Printing Office
Washington, D. C

UNITED STATES
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON
1927

library CONTENTS

Page

Introduction 1

Acknowledgments 1

Historical resumfe 2

Distribution of thin, coal beds 3

Correlation of coal beds 6

Change in thickness of beds •

Mining conditions"

Geology of anthracite region 8

Influx of water 8

Lack of information 8

Lack of foresight 9

Conservation of coal 11

Mining of adjacent beds 11

Simultaneous mining of two adjacent beds 11

Mining methods in Gray slope district, Forest City colliery,

Hillside Coal & Iron Co 12

Mining methods in No. 2 shaft district, Forest City colliery,

Hillside Coal & Iron Co 16

Effect on a lower bed of second mining an upper bed 17

Mining methods at Archbald colliery, Glen Alden Coal Co 18

Mining methods at No. 5 colliery, Susquehanna Collieries Co 20

Rock filling two beds mined simultaneously 25

Effect on an upper bed of mining a lower bed 27

Mining methods at No. 5 colliery, Susquehanna Collieries Co 28

Longwall and semilongwall mining 30

Double and triple chamber mining in the Two-Foot bed 30

Semilongwall mining of a thin bed, with undercutters and conveyors

at the face 34

Advancing semilongwall up the pitch 38

Experimental longwall mining 41

Scraper mining 43

Scraper mining on medium pitches 43

Scraper mining with faces of room on 45° angle 46

Mining three rooms with drag scraper off one chute 48

Strange self-loading scraper 51

Shaking chutes 55

Shaking-chute mining in a thirty-inch bed 55

Shaking-chute mining in Eleven-Foot bed 58

Use of individual-drive shaking chute under different conditions 59'

Shaking-chute mining at mines of Jeddo-Highland Coal Co 59

Shaking-chute mining with individual drive at Natalie colliery 62

Haulage by shaking chutes 67

Combined buggy-road and shaking-chute haulage^ 70

Silting or flushing 71

Mining of silted areas without resilting 71

Reverse mining of thick or thin coal beds 78

Silting reopened areas at No. 2 colliery 79

in

Page

Miscellaneous mining methods 81

Block system of mining 81

Attempt to reopen Hillman bed 82

Buggy-road mining 84

Room-and-pillar mining in thin beds 88

Mining under Susquehanna Biver at Seneca colliery 89

Influx of water 90

Conservation of small areas of anthracite 91

Summary of mining methods 96

Mining adjacent beds 96

Longwall and semilongwall mining 97

Scraper mining . 97

Shaking chutes 98

Silting 99

Miscellaneous mining methods 100

Mechanical mining 101

Conclusions . 103

Introduction of new mining methods 103

Advantages of longwall and semilongwall mining 104

Saving possible 104

Source of material for silting 105

Use of mechanical devices 106

Mechanical loading of coal 108

Mining methods for Northern field 109

ILLUSTRATIONS

Kg.

1. Correlation and nomenclature of coal beds in the Northern field of

the Pennsylvania anthracite region 6

2. Correlation and nomenclature of coal beds in the Eastern Middle,

Western Middle, and Southern fields of the Pennsylvania anthra-
cite region 8

3. Correlation of anthracite beds in the Northern field, by districts,

showing average elevation of surface, average maximum depth of
beds, average interval between beds, average thickness of beds, and
relationship to nomenclature suggested by the Second Geological

Survey of Pennsylvania 10

4. Correlation of anthracite beds in the Eastern Middle, Western Middle,

and Southern fields, by districts, showing average elevation of sur-
face, average maximum depth of beds, average interval between
beds, average thickness of beds, and relationship to nomenclature

suggested by the Second Geological Survey of Pennsylvania 10

5. Map of No. 3 Dunmore bed at Forest City colliery 12

. 6. Sketch showing method of handling dividing rock at Forest City

colliery and at Hillside Coal & Iron Co. colliery 14

7. Map of No. 2 and No. 3 Dunmore beds, showing method of working 15

8. Map of No. 2 Dunmore bed 16

9. Map of Lower Diamond and Bock beds at Archbald colliery of Glen

Alden Coal Co., showing columnization 20

10. Map of Twin beds at Nanticoke No. 5 colliery, Susquehanna Collieries

Big. Pa*e

11. Section on line A (fig. 10) 22

12. Section on line B (fig. 10) 23

13. Section on line C (fig. 10) 23

14. Section on line D (fig. 10) 24

15. Section on line E (fig. 10) 24

16. Map of Lower Skidmore bed in No. 17 slope section, showing barrier

pillar and second mining where Top and Bottom Skidmore beds are

mined as one 26

17. Details of method of mining and rock packing in the Top and Bottom

Skidmore beds 27

18. Map of Top and Bottom George beds ut Nanticoke No. 5 colliery;

Susquehanna Collieries Co '. 30

19. Map of Ring bed at Forest City colliery of Hillside Coal & Iron Co— 31

20. Miners loading coal into conveyor 34

21. Longwall face in Orchard bed at Dodge mine of Baker colliery 36

22. Loading end of conveyor, showing loaded coal car 36

23. Map of No. 2 slope section of No. 1 Dunmore bed, at Northwest col-

liery, Temple Coal Co 39

24. Map showing two experimental longwall faces in No. 5 bed of a

colliery in the Middle Western field 42

25. Map of B bed at Madeira colliery of Colonial Collieries Co 44

26. Map of No. 5 bed at Greenough colliery of Colonial Collieries Co 46

27. Details of construction of drag scraper 48

28. Scraper layout in Little Buck Mountain bed at Raven Run colliery,

Hazelbrook Coal Co 50

29. Part of workings in Seven Foot bed, where scraper is used, at Pine

Hill colliery of Pine Hill Coal Co 52

30. Typical layout for Strange scraper 53

31. Method of operating Strange scraper 54

32. Ideal plan of mining in Top Ross or Monkey bed at Bast Boston

colliery 56

33. General type of connections and layout used with endless-rope drive

systems for shaking chutes 58

34. Details of construction of shaking chutes 63

35. Additional details of construction of shaking chutes 64

36. Electric drive for chute at Natalie colliery 65

37. Compressed-air drive for chute at Natalie colliery 65

38. General layout of No. 5 bed at Natalie colliery, showing type' of

mining in which shaking chutes are used 66

39. Orchard bed, showing spoon and spoon gangway 68

40. Details of shaking chute as used by Lehigh Valley Coal Co 68

41. Layout of buggy road and shaking chute 70

42. Map of Orchard bed at Kingston No. 4 colliery of Kingston Coal Co.,

showing removal of pillars in silted area 73

43. Map of part of Red Ash bed at Kingston No. 2 colliery of Kingston

Coal Co., showing method of recovering pillars 77

44. Face of room being driven in pillar in reverse mining 80

45. Face of working place, showing condition after all the coal in one of

the old pillars has been removed 81

46. Block system of mining bed at No. 7 colliery of Susquehanna Collieries

Co., at Nanticoke 82

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