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Coal

Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure. Coal is composed primarily of carbon along with variable quantities of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.

Contributors in Coal

Coal

dragline

Mining; Coal

An extremely large excavation machine with a bucket attached to a complex system of wires. The bucket will drag on the surface of an area and collect overburden. It will then deposit the overburden ...

draw slate

Mining; Coal

A soft slate located above some coal seams that falls after coal has been extracted.

drift

Mining; Coal

A horizontal underground passageway in a mine that follows parallel to a vein.

drill

Mining; Coal

A machine that uses a rotating tool or bit to cut through or create holes in surfaces.

dump

Mining; Coal

1. The act of discharging, releasing and unloading a material. 2. The name of a pile or heap of waste.

electrical grounding

Mining; Coal

A safety measure where an electric circuit is connected to the ground.

entry

Mining; Coal

Typically horizontal, it's a passageway used for transporting material, people and ventilation.

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