Hand-digging coal needs a pick, a mattock, a shovel, wedges with a sledgehammer, a barrow or baskets, and a saw and axe if you cut props. Add head protection, eye protection and a dust mask, and for any underground work a light that is not a naked flame, since a flame can ignite methane.
Part of Coal Surface Mining
The tool kit for hand-mining coal: breaking, loading and hauling tools, timbering tools, and protective equipment.
Coal Is Soft, So The Tools Are Ordinary Ones
Coal is softer than most rock and breaks along natural fractures, so the working tools are the parent article’s list: a pick or mattock to break it, a shovel to load it, wedges and a sledgehammer to split large blocks along their fractures, and a barrow, sled or bucket to haul it. For timbering, add a saw and an axe.
| Job | Tool | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Break coal | Pick, mattock | Work with the fractures, not across them |
| Split blocks | Wedges and sledge | Drive along a natural crack (Wedge Applications) |
| Load and haul | Shovel, buckets, barrow | A sled works on frozen or smooth ground |
| Cut props | Saw, axe | See Felling Technique |
| Keep tools cutting | Stone or file | A blunt pick bounces instead of biting (Sharpening) |
What To Wear And Carry
- Head. Salvaged hard hats or bicycle helmets, against falling coal and roof chips.
- Eyes. Goggles or a visor. Coal and rock chips fly when wedges are struck.
- Lungs. The best respirator you can salvage, discussed in the dust article. A cloth is the last resort.
- Hands and feet. Gloves and sturdy boots.
- Light. The hard problem. Use a salvaged electric head lamp or battery torch underground. A candle or oil lamp is a naked flame. A seam that releases methane turns that flame into an explosion, and without a gas detector you cannot prove a seam is free of it, so flame lights belong on the surface.
- Rope and a whistle. For signalling the entrance.
Sparks
Steel striking rock makes sparks. In coal that is not usually a problem; in a seam that may hold methane, it is an ignition source. Wedge and pick coal rather than striking stone, and keep the working face damp.
Common Mistakes
- Dull tools. They need more force and slip.
- Overloading a barrow on a slope. It runs away.
- Skipping eye protection. Wedge strikes throw fragments.
Safety
Tools and flame
Every tool here can injure, and a naked flame underground can kill a whole crew. Use electric light underground or none, and carry a first-aid kit with bleeding control skills (Bleeding Control).
What’s Next
- Learn next: Coal Mine Safety — how the hazards fit together
- Combine with: Dust & Respiratory Protection — what protects the lungs