lillybrook coal camp

located in Raleigh county the Lillybrook coal mine was ran by the lillybrook coal company
  a dime script for Lillybrook
it is now a ghost town.
part of the winding gulf coalfeild is where it is located.
Jan 19, 1930 The Lillybrook coal mine number 1 had an explosion that killed 8 people.
mostly black (demographics) when it was a coal town.

3 types of surface mining

     There are three types of surface mining. They all are on the surface. The three types of surface mining are: Contour mining, mountain top removal, and strip mining.
     contour mining is a type of strip mining that follows a hill. The advantage of counour mining is that it is less dangerous the disadvantage is that there is more erosion of the hill.
contour mining


     Mountain top removal is the next type of surface mining. The tops of hills are removed to access the coal on the inside of a mountain. The over burnden is pressed into other higher areas in the area. The disadvantages of this is that the origianal mountain is not restored after this. This is also very controversial. the advantages to mountain top removal is it is efficient.
mountiain top removal
 

     Strip mining is the final method of surface mining. It is used when coal is near the surface or the overburden is unstable. the advantage is that the dirt removed is placed in a previous cavity. the disadvantage is it is not very economically friendly.
http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/S/SU012.html

5 methods of mining

     There are five methods of mining as show in session 3 of the WV coal project video. The various mining techniques include drift mining, Shaft mining,
     Drift mining is where the coal seam intersects the surface. How this works is the mine intersects the seam horizontally following the coal. This is mainly used for mountains this is why it is popular in West Virginia. The advantages of drift mining is there is no mountain top removal. The disadvantage is that there is a lot more erosion after the mining is done on the mountains.
http://www.onemine.org/search/index.cfm/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-drift-and-fill-mining

     Shaft mining is the most common form of mining. They use elevators to access the coal. They are typically about 1000 feet deep in West Virginia. The advantage of shaft mining is that it goes deeper and gets out all the coal. The disadvantage of shaft mining is that it isn't as enviromentally friendly when you fill it in after all the coal is out. But it does keep the erosion of the mountain down.
http://www.miningmagazine.com/management-in-action/sinking-skilfully?SQ_DESIGN_NAME=print_friendly


     Room and pillar mining nearly half the coal is left behind to support the roof. Pillars can "squeeze" putting pressure on other pillars and causing it to collapse. The advantages of room and pillar mining is that it is a very cheap way to mine. The other advantages of room and pillar mining is it is fast. The big disadvantage is roof collapses are very common in this type of mining although with the progression of technology, this has become less of a hazard. but still a hazard none the less.
more on room and pillar mining


     Longwall mining is also known as retreat mining. The main way of Longwall mining is they use hydraulic to support the ceiling and do this with huge mining machines. Once the coal is removed the machine retreats and the ceiling collapses behind it. The advantage of this is that it gets a lot more coal out than room and pillar mining. The disadvantage to Longwall mining is that it is very costly.
longwall mining



     Strip mining is mainly used when coal is close to the surface or the overburden is unstable. As mining progresses , the overburden is placed on the previous mine cavity. the advantage to strip mining is less miners would get hurt in case of an accident. The disadvantage is that it isn't as eco friendly and not filled as well as other types of mining techiques.
strip mining

coal formation

Coal is formed when the remainder of a plant in a swamp goes beneath the surface and oxygen is cut off. the plant does not rot but forms peat.Then as the plant turns from peat to lignite. this happens when the absence of oxygen and more carbon is present. then after it forms lignite it turns into one of the many types of coal: Bituminous, anthracite, then coke. This is the way coal is formed.