Lead Mines and Mining

[coalminer3]

This is some additional information related to the "ore cars" thread elsewhere on the board.

Early lead mines were not very deep. Miners dug out the ore, hoisted it to the surface, and prepared it for smelting. The smelting process was simple as the lead ore was placed either on a pile of logs, or in a furnace and melted down. Smelter operators poured the lead into molds (pigs), let it cool, removed it from the molds and sent it to market. Charcoal or coal-fired blast furnaces in time replaced earlier smelters.

Mining methods became more sophisticated as underground mines grew in size and complexity. Lead miners generally used the "***-stope method" to extract ore. They began mining at the top of the ore body and worked down to the bottom by cutting, drilling holes and blasting. Mines were ventilated naturally or by long canvas tubes that ran underground from the surface. Fans, in time, were used to ventilate the underground workings. Steam-powered hoists replaced older hand and animal-powered ones.

Miners used explosives underground to break rock and ore into manageable sizes and to blast solid rock. The mining cycle followed here was similar to that used in other hardrock operations. One miner held a drill bit while another hammered it to make drill holes in the tock. The holes were generally 20-30 inches deep and spaced anywhere from two to three feet apart. The holes were filled with black powder or cartridges of so-called "giant" powder; nitroglycerine mixed with sawdust or sand. The miners attached a fuse to the round, lit the fuse, and retired to a "safe" location.

They returned to muck out the area after the shot was fired. Roof conditions were bad and special miners called "roof trimmers" were responsible for finding and scaling down loose material. The roof trimmers did their work after rounds were fired and before miners were allowed to return to the working place.

Ore was loaded into "ore cans" that were placed on small rail cars and pushed to the shaft where they were hoisted to the surface.

Lead miners faced a variety of safety problems. Miners were continually exposed to falls of ground in shafts and in stopes. More lead miners wre killed or injured by falls of ground than from any other cause. Water in the mine was a never-ending probelm. Water is some mines was so filled with hydrogen sulfide gas that miners would be blinded if exposed to it for more than two or three hours at a time.

Blasting accidents were common, too. Premature detonations and misfires were costly in terms of fatalities, injuries, property damage and lost production.

Lead miners coped with several health hazards along with the usual problems caused by bad ventilation, water, roof falls, misfires, blown out shots and the like. These health problems included headaches and nausea from explosions of giant powder, and the more insidious disease, silicosis (aka miner's consumption) which came, as one study said from inhalation of "...fine, hard, sharp, and insoluble dust" liberated by underground drillign and blasting. In its latter stages, miner's consumption could turn into tuberculosis. Lead poisoning, tied to the output of smelters, also afflicted the miners.

work safe

[Anonymous]

yes there is a lot of problems, plus with the large smelters in the NE Okla. region near Miami, there are still problems. Many of the mines had smaller smelters, but there was a large 3 company smelter (?) near Pitcher, OK (childhood home of Mickey Mantle I believe). Large piles of leftover spoils (a.k.a. chat) still exist. EPA has been working for 25 years to try and alleviate problems with the large concentrations of lead in the ground, water, etc. Acid mine discharge is another fun problem, with runoff going into Tar Creek. There is a mine somewhere, I believe in Pitcher or in another of the nearby towns. From a distance, the piles look like snow covered mountains. (I went to college in Miami for 2 years and cruised the countryside periodically. Modeling a modern day version of this type of activity is what i had in mind. (from other thread).

[Anonymous]

Coalminer3

Much of what you have posted does not apply to western hardrock mines. When the EPA shut down the last of the smelters in 1982, the mines were mining up the stope and using gravity to move the ore to the underground haulage system (either rail or conveyor) to move it to the shaft pocket. From the pocket, the ore was hoisted to the surface. The last mine I worked was 5,2000 feet below existing ground surface and was using square set timbers to hold the works open until all the ore had been extracted. A neighboring mine was raising on a near verticle ore shoot and used no support timber at all. They had to place gob in the works to keep a base from which to work. I could go on and on, but see no purpose. I am a mining engineer by both training and experience and worked the hardrock mines of the west for nearly 25 years.
The mining of the 1800's might be close to what you write, but I still feel you have some errors.

I grant that the industry was not for the faint of heart. Most people could not work in a normal hardrock mine.
The headaches you talk about? The nitroglycerine contained in the cotton gel of modern (late 1800's on) stick powder was noted for the pain handling it could cause. Continuous handling and the headaches ceased.

I do not mean to rag on you, but I do not like the dissemination of misinformation about my industry. I have worked as both a timberman and machine miner in western lead/zinc mines. Today I am on the surface and have adapted to working as a civil engineer. I miss being underground, I miss the the challenge of beating the odds. I miss the creaking and groaning of the timbers as they take weight. I miss the total darkness of being deep underground and shutting off my cap lamp during dinner break. Most folks that get to know me think I should be put into an institution. I think I am the only one still marching in sequence, the rest of you are a half step off.

Tom


Tom

[coalminer3]

No problem. That's why we share on these forums.

work safe

[Anonymous]

>The last mine I worked was 5,2000 feet below existing ground surface and was using >square set timbers to hold the works open until all the ore had been extracted

52000 feet? wow thats deep!

nick

[Anonymous]

And hot too. My hats off.

I did have to ask what was done with the Lead or Ore as it may related to Model Operation?