Is there a way to take out the coal from the Earth's surface level ?

Question

So many caolminers die in accidents in the mines, surely there must be a way to take out the coal safely from the earth's surface itself with so much advanced technology to help us...what do you think?

Answer 1

Strip mining works for deposits which are fairly close to the surface but is not economical for getting coal which is very deep in the ground.

Many of the accidents we hear about happen because proper safety measures are ignored in the interest of saving money.

However deep shaft mining is inherently dangerous and coal is more so than other minerals because of its combustibility.

Answer 2

Yer there is a way. Its called Open-cut or Pit mining. Basically just a big hole in the ground. Many mines operate in this way and yes its much safer than underground mining. However the deeper down the deposit is the wider the pit must be, therefore you must move a lot more waste rock per tonne of ore. This can be quite expensive, so underground mining is more economical in some instances.

Answer 3

Hello Mr.Apache Indian

Till date there is no method available which is commerically viable to take out coal from earth, Many coalminers die due to coal mine explosions , these explosions are due to the methane gas traped in the coal seams, this gas is know as coalbed methane, to make mining activity safer, we have to trap this coal bed methane this helps in two ways reduces mining explosions and we can use this gas commercially.

Answer 4

I can't add much to what Xeno has said except that you might like to look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-pit_mining which has a picture of an open cast coal mine in Germany and at this which gives a historyhttp://www.dmm.org.uk/history/ocast00.htm (which I quote as it refers to where I live!)

Answer 5

it's called strip mining. bad for nature but much safer for humans.

Answer 6

i think renewable energy would alot less painful or life threatening