Anyone Ever Mine Their Own Coal?

 
RMA
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Post by RMA » Fri. Oct. 02, 2009 8:05 pm

It looks to have some pretty fair sized rooms...I wonder how long it was "worked"

Could it date back to the early 30's?

Bob

 
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Chris Murley
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Post by Chris Murley » Fri. Oct. 02, 2009 11:48 pm

yea it was definitely pretty old. the house was owned by a "retired" miner. then sold to the present owner. the hole was covered with a steel plate. the old miner never told the new owner about the hole in the foundation, and he owned the house for 2 and a half years before discovering it. the hole was covered with a steel plate and by chance it happened to be across from his breaker panel on the wall. in the winter he wondered why there was condensation all over the wall and breaker panel, as well as occasional mist in the room. haha! he never gave too much thought to the steel plate as he thought it was just up against the wall and fell over, lying on the ground. well one day he was cleaning up and decided to pick it up and revealed the hole. investigated the hole, called to have it filled in but not before making a note to get a hold of us first 8-) the old chamber he "mined" into is only a few feet from the surface (man the collieries worked them close) and the immediate top was collapsed down crushing the props that were in there. however it could have been retimbered and his oil burner that is in the house sold for scrap 8-)

 
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Chris Murley
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Post by Chris Murley » Fri. Oct. 02, 2009 11:53 pm

another funny note, when the chamber was filled with concrete it was pumped down through those boreholes. the contractors wanted to get another look inside to guestimate how much fill they would need so they dropped a camera down one the day before it was to be filled..... 3 days after we were there. well they saw the "inspection date" we left and one of the contractors said, wow look at that! you can still make out the date the miners left in there, 1909! :D he he he.

 
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Post by RMA » Sat. Oct. 03, 2009 8:35 am

the old chamber he "mined" into is only a few feet from the surface (man the collieries worked them close)
OH! So the home owner didn't do "all" of the mining he excavated into an existing chamber...
Is it possible that the depths of this mine were flooded and were part of a HUGE works?? The entry to the works...Possibly nearby?
What vicinity is the house???Interesting stuff!!

The earlier homeowner may well have heard the miners working "away back" ...Then he complained that his home was endangered...and took over the mining on his own when that drift was abandoned? Fun to speculate...

Bob


 
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Chris Murley
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Post by Chris Murley » Sat. Oct. 03, 2009 7:51 pm

correct. this was part of a much larger mine. however it was so close to the surface that there was a subsidence down pitch from this chamber that was filled in and it was not possible to get down to the gangway. it would have been pennsylvania coal co. workings most likely. I had an agreement with the home owner that I wouldnt publicize his location, but I can tell you its in the lackawanna basin of the northern field.

 
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Post by drader » Wed. May. 13, 2020 10:55 am

I've posted this in a different thread but I figured this would fit better here. Still figuring out the forum thing.

Mining my own...
I live in W.Va. and have farm out in the country mostly used as a hunting camp. Out at the farm I started using bituminous coal in a modified stove to heat the cabin in the Autumn and Winter. On the farm is an exposed outcrop of the Eagle BT Seam in the Kanawha Group. It about 38" thick, above drainage, and declines into the hillside at about 20 degrees. After the outcrop was exposed a few years back in a landslide I drove a drift four foot wide into the seam. I've mined about 12 feet straight back into the hillside and timbered the inside for roof support. The timbers and lagging aren't taking much weight yet but getting back in there admittedly makes me a little nervous. I've amassed a mighty stock of coal from the endeavor. Planning to back fill it soon or box it in like a cellar. I'd also like to note that the mineral rights were granted along with the surface rights and because I'm not mining for commercial purposes many of the regulatory authorities would have little interest in my activities.
I became interested in mining several years ago in college where I had studied coal extraction. After spending so much time thinking about coal mining, I just had to try it myself. Putting what I had learned into practice really improved my understanding and I learned a lot of valuable skills you can only get from experience. Like chopping your own wood, it warms you twice, but more efficiently.

 
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Post by franco b » Wed. May. 13, 2020 11:04 am

Without pictures, it didn't happen.

So college inspired you to swing a pick?

 
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Post by Lightning » Wed. May. 13, 2020 11:41 am

franco b wrote:
Wed. May. 13, 2020 11:04 am
Without pictures, it didn't happen.
A big +1 on that :)


 
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Post by drader » Thu. Jun. 04, 2020 2:59 pm

I have a picture from last spring. I’ll need to get back out to the farm to get some from the inside.

 
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Post by joethemechanic » Thu. Dec. 17, 2020 6:53 pm

What's amazing is the amount that is already mined, laying around on the ground on old mining and breaker sites. Not to mention in old colum piles;, used for railroad beds, and quite a bit used for backfill. It must have been super cheap and plentiful back in the day, it seems like they wasted it all over the place.

 
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Post by longears9 » Sat. Aug. 21, 2021 9:17 am

Here in Central Montana the ONLY coal available is Bituminous . There are old coal diggings all over the place. South of us near Sheridan, WY they mine gazillion tons of the stuff. We use Bit coal in our DS-15 stove and it is excellent! The Cost: $55.50 per ton. Hauling it to our home, 500 miles round trip, well that can be a challenge but certainly worth it. 20 pounds goes 15 hours keeping our home at 75 degrees. The other day a rancher friend of ours mentioned there was an old cvoal mine up on the side of the mountain at his ranch. I went out to look and I couldn't believe my eyes. TONS of the stuff. We might not have to travel so far. :-)

 
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Post by warminmn » Sat. Aug. 21, 2021 9:42 am

Ive heard stories about the community lignite mines in North Dakota where they just dug it from the surface. That could be a lot of fun digging your own bit coal Longears.

 
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Post by longears9 » Sat. Aug. 21, 2021 12:33 pm

Yeah I've driven by those HUGE open pit coal mines up there. Amazing. I take a dump trailer down to Wolf Mountain Coal in Decker, MT and pick up about 4 ton at a time. 4 ton will last us all winter. The size of our coal is called Pea Coal. About the size of golf ball. Works great.

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