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Post by John on Jul 1, 2007 7:14:35 GMT -5
A thread for shift/day/weekly and monthly not forgetting annual production records on longwall faces.
From what I'm reading, longwall faces are creating major problems these days, production is outstripping development. A face is finishing before a new one is ready for installation, looks like mining companies are going to have to double development work in the future!
At that point we come full circle with why didn't the NCB retreat against advance? Roadway maintenance due to geology in Brit mines. But, with a spare face development standing for several months, it looks like roadway maintenance will be essential.
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Post by John on Jul 1, 2007 7:19:56 GMT -5
OK here's the first entry.
A DBT longwall shearer EL3000 to meet a very specific mining technique and geology at the Russian Kyrgaiskaja mine resulted in a huge increase in productivity and a DBT longwall system is setting a string of new records. The productivity is remarkable. Over a period of 80 days from end of 2005 to early 2006, the EL3000 shearer produced nearly 800,000 tons. With the exception of eight days when no production was scheduled, the average output was 10,700 tons/day. On April 1, 2006 the EL3000 produced 25,000 tons in a single day (3 shifts of 9,000 tons, 7,000 tons and 9,000 tons respectively) and this record was repeated both on April 2 and April 3. The best month was 305,000 tons, with overall production up to March 22, 2006 totaling 2.14 million tons. The mine recently broke another record, producing 88,500 tons in a single week. DBT sold the complete longwall installation to Kyrgaiskaja mine (Russia) in 2004. Located in the central Kuzbass coal region, the Kyrgaiskaja mine produces some 2.5 million tons per year from the DBT longwall and another longwall with local equipment. The package comprised an EL3000 shearer with a cutting power of 2 x 400 kW and a haulage power of 2 x 43 kW. This installed power is modest compared to other EL3000 shearers DBT has in operation in China, Australia and the USA, but is adequate for this operation. The shearer has a cutting range is 2.5 to 5.5 m and operates on 1140 V. The mining method - a full cut from head to tail gate, running it back to the head gate without cutting - and the face inclination presented a challenge. DBT's longwall equipment in general and especially the shearer were easily able to deal with these circumstances.
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Post by John on Jul 1, 2007 7:31:52 GMT -5
Here's another one in South Africa.
New Denmark Colliery (NDC), an Anglo Coal colliery situated about 180 southeast of Johannesburg, broke a new South African low seam longwall record of 464,095 tonnes using Joy machinery in August 2004.
Planned as a total longwalling operation, production at NDC commenced in 1982, and by the early 1990s the mine was running two longwall and two shortwall districts at two shafts, namely Central and North, the latter of which was commissioned in 1986.
Currently, the mine has consolidated operations at Central shaft, with North shaft being closed, and a new area serviced by Okhozini shaft being developed.
The one remaining longwall operating at Central shaft has performed indifferently since installation in 1996, and was subjected to a joint intensive care programme commencing in 2002.
The latest of these records was 464,095 tonnes, achieved in August 2004. In addition, three daily records and one weekly record, on two 10-hour shifts per day, were broken in achieving the result.
A mechanised 200-m deep underground coal mine, NDC is one of the deepest coal mines in South Africa. Main and secondary development is done using continuous miners. The bulk of the production is sourced from one total extraction unit, using longwall mining methods.
With a 4 seam bituminous coal reserve in excess of 300 million tonnes, the expected life of the mine is more than 40 years, depending on power demand from the southern African region.
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Post by John on Jul 1, 2007 7:35:43 GMT -5
(NYSE: CYM) announced today that its Twentymile coal mine in Western Colorado set a new world record for production. Miners at Twentymile produced 689,759 tons of clean coal for the month of December, besting the previous record of 601,068 tons, which was held by another coal company's mine in western Colorado.
The world record was the fourth for Twentymile since August 1994 and the second since June 1995 for a Cyprus Amax coal mine. Last year, the Company's Cumberland mine in Pennsylvania set a world record with 573,000 tons of coal. Both mines are underground coal mines ...
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Post by John on Jul 1, 2007 7:40:45 GMT -5
Staff A DBT EL3000 shearer with state-based automation has helped Xstrata's Beltana mine in the NSW Hunter Valley achieve several production records Late last year, the Xstrata's Beltana mine set a new Australian monthly record with 955,049t (raw) from the longwall and achieving a peak daily production record of 47,353t (raw). Related Results: longwall records The mine also achieved 2495m of roadway development in November, another Beltana record. At the end of mining for the 2005 calendar year, Beltana produced over 7Mt (raw) with a workforce of 160 employees. Beltana's DBT EL3000 shearers ...
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Post by John on Jul 1, 2007 7:45:20 GMT -5
Foundation Affiliates Set New Production and Shipment Records, Corporation Continues Early Pay Down of Debt
LINTHICUM HEIGHTS, Md., Jan 05, 2006 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Foundation Coal Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:FCL) today announced that its Pennsylvania affiliates, Cumberland Coal Resources, LP and Emerald Coal Resources, LP, have broken two longstanding production and shipment records, while at the same time setting new records in safety performance. In addition, Foundation Coal West, which operates the Belle Ayr and Eagle Butte mines in Wyoming's Powder River Basin, also set a new business unit record for shipments in a single year.
Strong cash flow generation from these and other affiliates enabled Foundation PA Coal Company, which holds all of the corporation's long-term debt, to pay down early an additional $30 million of its Bank Term Loan B. Combined with voluntary payments of $85 million at the end of 2004 and $20 million in August 2005, the company has repaid $135 million of the original $470 million loan.
The Cumberland Mine, which began operations over 30 years ago, established a new production record for a single-longwall mine operated by Foundation's Pennsylvania affiliates or their predecessor companies. With 7.09 million tons of clean coal production and 6.98 million tons of shipments in 2005, Cumberland bested the prior records of 6.74 million tons and 6.66 million tons, respectively, set in 2001 by the Emerald Mine. Notably, Cumberland output had surpassed the prior record on December 13, 2005, with more than half the month remaining.
Record Cumberland output, combined with very strong production at Emerald, resulted in a new Pennsylvania business unit record of 13.79 million tons, topping the prior high of 13.39 million tons, also achieved in 2001. Annual shipments from the combined operations also set a new peak at 13.68 million tons, beating the 2001 record of 13.48 million tons.
In Wyoming, the Belle Ayr and Eagle Butte mines combined to ship 43.61 million tons, beating the prior record of 42.64 million tons set in 2003. Notably, the new business unit record occurred in a year marred by significant railroad service disruptions related to weather-related events occurring in early spring and subsequent track maintenance.
"We are extremely proud of the achievements of our Pennsylvania and Wyoming operations in 2005," said James F. Roberts, Foundation Coal president and chief executive officer. "These mines are proof positive that strong leadership, a skilled and highly-trained workforce, and a philosophy of continuous improvement can yield more tonnage without compromising worker safety." Roberts added, "Every additional ton of coal from these mines assured our ability to meet customers' needs in 2005 and provided significant value generation for shareholders. The exceptional efforts of these dedicated employees complement a strong year of performance across all of Foundation's diverse operations."
Foundation Coal Holdings, Inc., through its affiliates, is a major U.S. coal producer with 13 coal mines and related facilities in several states including Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Illinois, and Wyoming. Through its subsidiaries Foundation Coal employs approximately 2,900 people and produces approximately 67 million tons annually, largely for utilities generating electricity. Foundation's corporate offices are in Linthicum Heights, MD.
SOURCE: Foundation Coal Holdings, Inc.
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limey
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Post by limey on Jul 5, 2007 10:05:07 GMT -5
"In Wyoming, the Belle Ayr and Eagle Butte mines combined to ship 43.61 million tons, beating the prior record of 42.64 million tons set in 2003. "
Don't forget these are strip mines - I worked on the exploration for both of them. The other point of interest is they are mining a seam that is 80 - 120ft thick with 30-50ft of overburden! I think that qualifies as cheating!
It was always my understanding that the NCB did mostly advancing longwalls due to the cost (and time) required to develop retreating panels. Certainly, with the single entry method they used, it would have been easier to control the gate roads if they had done more retreating work. As you know, most, if not all, longwalls in the US are retreating - but gate roads are driven in room-and-pillar fashion at seam height and therefore pay for themselves as they are driven.
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Post by John on Jul 5, 2007 10:48:20 GMT -5
"In Wyoming, the Belle Ayr and Eagle Butte mines combined to ship 43.61 million tons, beating the prior record of 42.64 million tons set in 2003. " Don't forget these are strip mines - I worked on the exploration for both of them. The other point of interest is they are mining a seam that is 80 - 120ft thick with 30-50ft of overburden! I think that qualifies as cheating! It was always my understanding that the NCB did mostly advancing longwalls due to the cost (and time) required to develop retreating panels. Certainly, with the single entry method they used, it would have been easier to control the gate roads if they had done more retreating work. As you know, most, if not all, longwalls in the US are retreating - but gate roads are driven in room-and-pillar fashion at seam height and therefore pay for themselves as they are driven. There are drawbacks to retreating, all the faces I worked in longwall method in NSW were retreating. The NCB did have some retreat faces, the major problems they faced were support of the raod while removing the rings, you have to remember all roads were arched due to the softness of the rock strata. The other problem the NCB faced was roadway maintenance at a lot of pits. My short time at Cotgrave was when they had started to drive two roads for a retreat face. Cotgrave experienced some of the worst floor lift and convergence I've ever seen in any mine I have worked at. By all accounts, that was their first and last attempt at a retreat face.
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limey
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Post by limey on Jul 5, 2007 12:18:30 GMT -5
Cotgrave experienced some of the worst floor lift and convergence I've ever seen in any mine I have worked at. By all accounts, that was their first and last attempt at a retreat face. I hear ya! I have done my share of dinting - and floor bolting! At Snibston they would drill holes into the floor at 45 degrees, then grout in 6ft wooden dowels to try to prevent floor heave ahead of a retreating face - didn't work very well!
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Post by John on Jul 5, 2007 12:23:15 GMT -5
Cotgrave experienced some of the worst floor lift and convergence I've ever seen in any mine I have worked at. By all accounts, that was their first and last attempt at a retreat face. I hear ya! I have done my share of dinting - and floor bolting! At Snibston they would drill holes into the floor at 45 degrees, then grout in 6ft wooden dowels to try to prevent floor heave ahead of a retreating face - didn't work very well! Never seen floor bolting, but at Cotgrave, the main roads were full 20 foot rings! And even those on the north side grew out the floor to touch the roof!
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Post by brewtime on Jul 5, 2007 16:42:07 GMT -5
big seams fast retreating easy ;D, pal worked at silverhill, working on a 1 metre thick advancing face in the yard seam cut 13 strips (2.2 miles) in a 7hour shift using a floor mounted trepanner, turned about 3500 tonnes. apparently this was a euro record, which got the lads some free beer in the welfare ![:P](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/tongue.png) ,, his knees were raw, i think they also turned about 40 000 tonnes that week, couple of months later it was shut.
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Post by John on Jul 5, 2007 16:46:57 GMT -5
big seams fast retreating easy ;D, pal worked at silverhill, working on a 1 metre thick advancing face in the yard seam cut 13 strips (2.2 miles) in a 7hour shift using a floor mounted trepanner, turned about 3500 tonnes. apparently this was a euro record, which got the lads some free beer in the welfare ![:P](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/tongue.png) ,, his knees were raw, i think they also turned about 40 000 tonnes that week, couple of months later it was shut. They were the old heavy duty trepanners, I worked with the AB16/125hp shearers and 16/200 shearers at Clifton and Cotgrave on seams from 36 inch cutting up to 60 inch cutting. I also worked on the first DECM Trepanner on field trial at Clifton. It had many problems until we cured most of them and it was a great machine after that. In Oz I was in seams from 12 foot to 15 foot cutting, now they were nice after low seams!
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Post by John on Jul 5, 2007 16:49:45 GMT -5
This shearer broke a few records in it's first couple of years on LW1/2/3! ![](http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u45/pitman47/AM400LW7AngusPlace.jpg)
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Post by John on Jul 5, 2007 16:52:52 GMT -5
The last photo and this one were taken on LW8, the last face for this equipment. ![](http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u45/pitman47/LW7AngusPlace.jpg)
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Post by dazbt on Jul 6, 2007 1:55:33 GMT -5
big seams fast retreating easy ;D, pal worked at silverhill, working on a 1 metre thick advancing face in the yard seam cut 13 strips (2.2 miles) in a 7hour shift using a floor mounted trepanner, turned about 3500 tonnes. apparently this was a euro record, which got the lads some free beer in the welfare ![:P](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/tongue.png) ,, his knees were raw, i think they also turned about 40 000 tonnes that week, couple of months later it was shut. They were the old heavy duty trepanners, I worked with the AB16/125hp shearers and 16/200 shearers at Clifton and Cotgrave on seams from 36 inch cutting up to 60 inch cutting. I also worked on the first DECM Trepanner on field trial at Clifton. It had many problems until we cured most of them and it was a great machine after that. In Oz I was in seams from 12 foot to 15 foot cutting, now they were nice after low seams! There were four basic types of Anderson trepanner, the first one, 70 hp floor mounted, second one was a 120 hp Heavy Duty floor mounted, third was the 120hp Conveyor Mounted (twin motor) and the fourth one was the one that broke the records at Silverhill was a 270hp trepanner, they were the four totaly different trepanners, there have also been many variations and add ons etc, single ended trepanners and Trepan-shearers and one at least, that had four trepanning heads, one gearhead mounted upon the other at either end.
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Post by John on Jul 6, 2007 6:22:06 GMT -5
Weren't the two floor mouted ones very similar to look at Daz??? I never worked with those, but I do have the heavy duty operators book and we did have one at the training centre for ages for folks to train on. The DECMT was the one I worked with, single turret twn motor unit, came in about 1966/67. We had the very first in the Midlands, mainly due to geological conditions in a face on the Piper seam, convergence was trapping the shearer every pass, so it was rushed to us and put into service where it proved a Godsend, even though it had many teething problems. During it's stay with us it threw a turret bottom bearing and had to have the stabilizing jacks modyfied plus some other mods I don't recall now.
Weren't the twin trepan heads in use on high seams??
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Post by dazbt on Jul 6, 2007 9:24:51 GMT -5
The 70hp and 120hp heavy duty treps. were similar in shape, the sections were sloped from face side to goaf. The 120hp was a much bigger animal and quite a few differences (just as a point of interest the 120hp had a single AB16" hydraulic pump providing the haulage) The DECMT was a far more complicated machine and provided, potentialy at least, much improved rates of production, if I remember correctly (or even near correctly) the 70hp had a maximum cutting speed of around 8 feet per minute, the 120hp a couple of feet per minute faster and the DECMT used to 'fly' at actual cutting speeds up to 12 feet per minute and maybe more. The hydraulically variable single centre roof turret was the first design with fixed floor cutting disks at each end, but not long after machines were adapted to have roof cutting discs on both gearheads. Again from a cloudy memory the minimum trepan head was about 32" which meant that the machine with four cutting heads (piggy-back mounted) would only have been used in sections of around 60", I think the first one was designed for use in the Notts area.
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Post by John on Jul 6, 2007 10:03:23 GMT -5
The DECMT we got wasn't origonally intended for Clifton Daz, it was supposed to go to one of the larger newer pits in the Notts area. The only reason it was diverted to us was because we were in dire straights! We had three faces operating in two seams, 51's and 52's were in Tupton, (Low Main at other pits) The coal wasn't the best and we supplied the power station next door, North Wilford. Coal from 43's in the Piper seam was being blended with the other coal for an acceptable product, but we hit geological problems, convergence. The shearer would get to the T/G and then had problems flitting back due to the face lowering, therefore the roof had to be chopped out to get the shearer back. Meanwhile the roof was deterierating at about a third the way up causing further problems! The only way out at that time was to introduce a machine that was slimmer, the DECMT! I was on nights when we started the changeover and was draughted to help out, we stayed until relieved on Saturday morning and the changeout lasted all weekend with production starting Monday dayshift. Other than teething problems the machine was a success until the bad roof showed up again. In the end it was impossible to "hold" the roof and the face was abandoned and the trepanner was moved to another face. That was the end for Clifton as we didn't have any decent coal to blend with Tupton.
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Post by brewtime on Jul 6, 2007 17:34:17 GMT -5
is that the official reason for shutting clifton, or was it closed so the work force could be shifted down the road to cotgrave, because the NCB struggled to recruit men into the industry in nottm because of other cleaner jobs like boots, players, raleigh,british gypsum, or did the marras take all the new jobs at cotgrave. there's a photo of clifton from the power station on www.terryblythe.co.uk
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Post by John on Jul 6, 2007 17:47:49 GMT -5
is that the official reason for shutting clifton, or was it closed so the work force could be shifted down the road to cotgrave, because the NCB struggled to recruit men into the industry in nottm because of other cleaner jobs like boots, players, raleigh,british gypsum, or did the marras take all the new jobs at cotgrave. there's a photo of clifton from the power station on www.terryblythe.co.ukHow did you guess?? LOL Off of 51's M/G was hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of development roadways to go down to the next and last seam, 50 years according to the NCB. A drift from the prep plant all the way down to the same seam was planned and link roads to Cotgrave via old 41's M/G. Clifton was planned as million ton pit in 1966 for the next decade. Some coal would have gone up Cotgraves shaft the rest up a conveyor to our new updated coal washery and prep plant. Lies all lies.. Oh well, sadly most left Cotgrave well before me and I only stayed a few months.
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Post by brewtime on Jul 6, 2007 18:39:23 GMT -5
talking of lies when sherwood shut went to ollerton, told my grand kids would work there ![::)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/eyesroll.png) , production was about to hit nearly 2million tonnes then bang your shutting we can't sell the coal, thoresby is now working the ollerton reserves. during the late 80's and early 90's most British pits where turning record tonnages and hitting high development drivages, coal news was full of propaganda headlines with thoresby 100,000 tonnes from a single face, daw mill 150,000 tonnes beats thoresby, kellingley 2.5 million tonnes for the year, wistow headers 300 metre heading kings, annesley blah, blah, blah, the money was good ;D, you even got a T-shirt with a cheesy slogan ![::)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/eyesroll.png) the lean mean piper team ![???](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/huh.png) , still not good enough,we now import more coal than is produced in britain, good job the Aussies and Russians are knocking it out to keep our lights on. rant over,
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Post by John on Jul 6, 2007 19:11:31 GMT -5
Totally agree, our electricity in this rural area is supplied by co-operatives, we are a shareholder. This goes back to when the big companies weren't interested in rural areas. They are now eyeing with greedy eyes our infrastructure. We own and operate two power stations, one coal and one reserve diesel. We pay the cheapest rates per Kw in the USA!
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Post by John on Jul 7, 2007 17:29:50 GMT -5
I was thinking this morning, no cracks Daz, I do it often, even though it can lead to headaches! We used to turn 15,000 tons saleable a week way back, over three 15 shifts a week. Thats only just over 300 tons per shift per face, from an AB16/125! No wonder we had so many pits close.
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Post by dazbt on Jul 7, 2007 18:13:32 GMT -5
I was thinking this morning, no cracks Daz, I do it often, even though it can lead to headaches! We used to turn 15,000 tons saleable a week way back, over three 15 shifts a week. Thats only just over 300 tons per shift per face, from an AB16/125! No wonder we had so many pits close. I know John, we thought we were the Bee's Knees at those type of production levels, it frightens me to death to think of shearers steaming through 2 and 3 metre high faces at 60 feet per minute plus, beats crawling through 34inches at 20 feet per minute anyday but it takes me all my effort to get the car up to 60 feet per minute these days.
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Post by John on Jul 7, 2007 18:21:09 GMT -5
I was thinking this morning, no cracks Daz, I do it often, even though it can lead to headaches! We used to turn 15,000 tons saleable a week way back, over three 15 shifts a week. Thats only just over 300 tons per shift per face, from an AB16/125! No wonder we had so many pits close. I know John, we thought we were the Bee's Knees at those type of production levels, it frightens me to death to think of shearers steaming through 2 and 3 metre high faces at 60 feet per minute plus, beats crawling through 34inches at 20 feet per minute anyday but it takes me all my effort to get the car up to 60 feet per minute these days. Try changing the battery, then you wouldn't have to push it Daz. ![;)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/wink.png)
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Post by dazbt on Jul 8, 2007 1:29:07 GMT -5
I know John, we thought we were the Bee's Knees at those type of production levels, it frightens me to death to think of shearers steaming through 2 and 3 metre high faces at 60 feet per minute plus, beats crawling through 34inches at 20 feet per minute anyday but it takes me all my effort to get the car up to 60 feet per minute these days. Try changing the battery, then you wouldn't have to push it Daz. ![;)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/wink.png) I never go far enough on my invalid scooter to flatten the batteries John, just down to shops locally. I have two batteries one is always fully charged and the other discharged to the standby levels. I actually live on quite a steep hill and whilst the electric scooter isn't a problem in having the climbing power the latest car I bought for the wife was a real problem. I took it back to the Chevrolet Dealership that I bought it from and in no uncertain manner told the rep(tile) that sold it me exactly what I thought about the piece of Yanky junk, I explained that I could only get to 70 up Harborough Hill, he prattled on about 70 being a pretty good speed for a hill as steep as Harborough, it took me ages to explain to the arrogant idiot that 70 just wasn't good enough for me, the dummy, he still couldn't grasp it even when I told him I lived at number 74.
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Post by Wheldale on Feb 19, 2010 14:42:36 GMT -5
![](http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/ae279/stevie5tapes/img001.jpg) Here is a record week for Wheldale Colliery about a year befoe closure.
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Post by John on Feb 19, 2010 15:00:47 GMT -5
Pretty good back then, try todays 5,000,000 tonnes per annum from one face!!
When I left Angus Place, we were achieving 48,000 tonnes per week from one face and a couple of developments. Total manpower of Angus Place was around 320, that's surface and underground. Operating back then on three 7 hour production shifts five days a week, and nightshift maintenance. We could have achieved 1000 tonnes per hour had the belts been designed for high production longwalls. They could only take around 600 to 700 tons an hour. They now have high capacity belts with a Joy Electra shearer and Joy face equipment and are producing 2.5 million tonnes per annum from that one face, and developments.
There's a face over here stateside that broke and holds the record.
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Post by billycasper on Jan 24, 2011 8:10:46 GMT -5
Belts at Daw Mill will take 1200tph out of the drift, We do 3.5mt per year and quite often break 100,000t per week.
This is from a single longwall face, and yeah the developments really struggle to exceed face retreat.
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Post by John on Jan 24, 2011 8:40:34 GMT -5
That's pretty good from a UK deep mine!! Last pit I worked at was in Australia, we produced 48.000 tonnes per week from one face and developments. We could have cut more but for the trunk belt system couldn't handle it back then. The Colliery was originally sunk to mine on the Bord and Pillar method, then changed over early in it's life to retreating longwall. First successful longwall in Australia. They now produce in excess of 2.5Million tonnes per year.
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