Page 18 - Gordon Nash: DOSCO Miner Introduction

ISSUE : Issue 42

Published by Ronald Caplan on 1986/6/1

'??U/ • nH • 44' 'MiHUff Tfiier' Beckoning Coimtry' WE'RE PROUD TO SHARE. . . the extended hand of hospitality sunrises to savour the flowing and ebbing of tides breathtaking headlands the silver flash of salmon. . . . Scottish and Acadian Festivals Hiking trails, picnic and camping parks Museums and heritage The warmest beaches north of the Carolinas! Cottage crafts and works of art The Cape Breton Highlands National Park Fresh and salt water fishing Horse racing, canoeing and other sports Fine accommodations, gift shops Restaurants Wildlife a4 Cape" Bretori ASK US FOR OUR NEW VISITOR'S GUIDE TO INVERNESS COUNTY FOR MOR?? DETAILED INFORMATION ON THE SIX TOURS ALSO, REQUEST THE SUMMER EVENTS BROCHURE INVERNESS COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF RECREATION AND TOURISM P • 0. Box 179, Municipal Building, Port Hood, Nova Scotia BOE 2W0 902-787-2274 sad experiences. A friend of mine whom I went to college with was drowned, with a longwall, where the sea came in and they were all drowned. This has never happened here. There was enough known about the technique so that they could get away with it. And that is the preferred method, and still is. (When he introduced longwall, did he also introduce new machinery, or was longwall a consequence of introducing new machinery into the mine?) That's a very good point. The longwall came first. And incidentally, the longwall is a very deceiving descrip? tion, because the important thing about it is not that the wall is long. The wall is only long because if you're on to a good thing, you might as well make it as long as you can. But it's total extraction. It should be called "total extraction." In other words, you take everything out. (I guess the geologist and the mining engi? neer understand that the roof can fall in in a controlled way.) Yes, that's it exact? ly. That's exactly the point. You let the roof fall in, and it has to be in a con? trolled way. Otherwise, you kill people. Now the thing is, you're making your wall long--but how do you get that coal on the longwall out and to the surface? And this is where the development of machinery has come ino To the point where, now, the oper? ators are drivers. When I came in, they un? dercut the coal, the coal was blasted down--the mining term is "shot down." Then men went at it with pick and shovel and shovelled the coal onto a conveyor, which took the coal down to a belt conveyor, on which it went out to the surface. There were some mines, when I came here--I think No. 2 was one--where they still had room and pillar work, and the men shot down the coal and loaded it into boxes--that's their word for mine cars--and horses dragged those out. As soon as this new sys? tem (longwall) became effective, it dis? placed the old system. From then on until the wall was completely mechanized, it was different stages in mechanization. (I want to try to get a portrait of the Cape Breton coal mines in industrial Cape Breton as you found them when you first came here to work. You found the longwall system in place, and a certain amount of mechanization.) Wel', the mechanization ex? tended just to two things. One was, they were still experimenting with face convey? ors ; that is, a conveyor along the length of the longwall. When I first came, they were what's called "shaker conveyors." I don't just know how to describe that, ex? cept it has a pan, and the thing is jigged LLOYD MacDONALD SALES O NISSAN The Multi 2- or 4-Wheel Drive Our 26th Year KINGS ROAD - SYDNEY Toll Free 1-800-565-9427 "Service Is a Feature?? Not a Promise" (18)

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