Post by regnar on Jan 31, 2006 4:50:25 GMT
With all the mine disasters in the news I thought I would share a few pics that I have. My Father in law in a Gold miner in Timmins Ontario. Last fall he took me and a hunting buddy underground for a shift. It was one of the coolest things I have ever done. All I can say is that you can not imagine what it is like.
WE went down 10 almost 10,000 feet!!! Some one could explain to you what to expect for years on end and it would be nothing what you thought if you got to experience it.
This mine has both shafts like you would typically thing of in a mine (5 all together) and a ramp which goes ll the way to the bottom!!
The first photo is a picture of the shaft entrance at 7500 feet. It was about 100 degrees at that depth with air conditioning.
The second photo is of me at 9500 feet. It was well over 100 dergees, again with AC. The shaft is just behind me a few hundred feet. The shaft was at 10,000 feet with a target of 11,500. THe temp in the shaft wast over 125 with the AC blowing directly on them. My brother in law works in the shaft as a welder. Lets just say you dont want to shake hands with him!!!
The next two photos are of some of the equipment they use underground. This is a pic of a 5 yard scoop. You can the guy standing next to it is 6'2 and well over 250 so you can get an idea of the size. The pic is taken in the repair facility at the 5500 foot level. They have EVERYTHING that you need down there from tires, to axels, to oil canges to truck washes.
The next pic is of the water regulator. All the equipment underground is opperated by watter and air pressure. The water pipes are 12" in diameter and go STRAIGHT down. I dont remembe what the numbers are but I believe that the water pressure at this station at the 7500 foot level was over 5000psi!!! They use the valves and stuff that you see to reduce the pressure that is put out to the machinery.
The next two are of one of the winch drums that opperate the lift in one of the shafts. We got to see the control room as well. Eveything is computerized read outs and video of what is going on but the opeator uses a joy stick to move the lift up and down and the people on the other end use a whistle system. They litterly pull a cable which rings in the hoyst operators room. The cable is 1 7/8" in Diamater. The drums are double. What you see on top is duplicate underneath. WHen one drum is winding the other is unwinding. The brake system is justa GIANT disk brake. There are 32 calipers on each drum. each piston is about 4 " in diamater.
The last pic is of the truck we drove down the ramp in. Before we went underground we ran it through the car wash on top. What you see is about an 1/8 " of dust after about 5-6 hours underground. Wonder why miners have poor health!!! its so rough underground that they only get about 20-30 Kilomotes out of truck ( this one was a dodge) befroe they are scraped. There is literly nothing left of them.
One thing I wish I took a pic of was the survival room. That is what the miners in canada lived in for a few days while there was a fire underground. They are room that are dug into the rock and fitted with double doors. In the room there is food for several days, a high pressure air line from the surface for both air and to keep the room over pressurized to kep out fire and smoke. There is a water line and most importantly there is a lot of clay. The clay is used to complety seal the door to prevent any smoke from getting inside.
The wierdest thing was when we went underground we had to put our name on a gust tag and hang it with my faterinlaws. Every miner puts one on the boad at the begining of the shift and removes it at the end of the shift. It is used to identify who is left underground in case of an emergency. The person who's name is on the tag is the only one who is allowed to remove it from the board, NO EXCEPTIONS. My father in law told me of one miner that was so excited to go on holliday that he forgot. When they got ahold of him he was in toronto )8-10 hours away). He had two choices. Return and remove his tag or pick up his last check when he got back. HE returned to remove it.
Hope you enjoyed it. It was a hell of an experience for me.
Besides, How many people can say thay sat on the THROWN at 9000 feet bellow ground!!!!!
WE went down 10 almost 10,000 feet!!! Some one could explain to you what to expect for years on end and it would be nothing what you thought if you got to experience it.
This mine has both shafts like you would typically thing of in a mine (5 all together) and a ramp which goes ll the way to the bottom!!
The first photo is a picture of the shaft entrance at 7500 feet. It was about 100 degrees at that depth with air conditioning.
The second photo is of me at 9500 feet. It was well over 100 dergees, again with AC. The shaft is just behind me a few hundred feet. The shaft was at 10,000 feet with a target of 11,500. THe temp in the shaft wast over 125 with the AC blowing directly on them. My brother in law works in the shaft as a welder. Lets just say you dont want to shake hands with him!!!
The next two photos are of some of the equipment they use underground. This is a pic of a 5 yard scoop. You can the guy standing next to it is 6'2 and well over 250 so you can get an idea of the size. The pic is taken in the repair facility at the 5500 foot level. They have EVERYTHING that you need down there from tires, to axels, to oil canges to truck washes.
The next pic is of the water regulator. All the equipment underground is opperated by watter and air pressure. The water pipes are 12" in diameter and go STRAIGHT down. I dont remembe what the numbers are but I believe that the water pressure at this station at the 7500 foot level was over 5000psi!!! They use the valves and stuff that you see to reduce the pressure that is put out to the machinery.
The next two are of one of the winch drums that opperate the lift in one of the shafts. We got to see the control room as well. Eveything is computerized read outs and video of what is going on but the opeator uses a joy stick to move the lift up and down and the people on the other end use a whistle system. They litterly pull a cable which rings in the hoyst operators room. The cable is 1 7/8" in Diamater. The drums are double. What you see on top is duplicate underneath. WHen one drum is winding the other is unwinding. The brake system is justa GIANT disk brake. There are 32 calipers on each drum. each piston is about 4 " in diamater.
The last pic is of the truck we drove down the ramp in. Before we went underground we ran it through the car wash on top. What you see is about an 1/8 " of dust after about 5-6 hours underground. Wonder why miners have poor health!!! its so rough underground that they only get about 20-30 Kilomotes out of truck ( this one was a dodge) befroe they are scraped. There is literly nothing left of them.
One thing I wish I took a pic of was the survival room. That is what the miners in canada lived in for a few days while there was a fire underground. They are room that are dug into the rock and fitted with double doors. In the room there is food for several days, a high pressure air line from the surface for both air and to keep the room over pressurized to kep out fire and smoke. There is a water line and most importantly there is a lot of clay. The clay is used to complety seal the door to prevent any smoke from getting inside.
The wierdest thing was when we went underground we had to put our name on a gust tag and hang it with my faterinlaws. Every miner puts one on the boad at the begining of the shift and removes it at the end of the shift. It is used to identify who is left underground in case of an emergency. The person who's name is on the tag is the only one who is allowed to remove it from the board, NO EXCEPTIONS. My father in law told me of one miner that was so excited to go on holliday that he forgot. When they got ahold of him he was in toronto )8-10 hours away). He had two choices. Return and remove his tag or pick up his last check when he got back. HE returned to remove it.
Hope you enjoyed it. It was a hell of an experience for me.
Besides, How many people can say thay sat on the THROWN at 9000 feet bellow ground!!!!!