A headframe (gallows frame, winding tower, hoist frame, pit frame, shafthead frame, headgear, headstock, poppethead) is a tall timber, steel or concrete structure above an underground mine shaft. Headframes are built to safely handle loads from mine hoisting systems and to facilitate easy movement of rock, equipment, people and materials into and out of the mine shaft. Headframes are an iconic feature of active and former mining landscapes worldwide, often becoming symbols of their mines and communities built around them.
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Pit head in the context of Coal mining
Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. In the United Kingdom and South Africa, a coal mine and its structures are a colliery, a coal mine is called a "pit", and above-ground mining structures are referred to as a "pit head". In Australia, "colliery" generally refers to an underground coal mine.
Coal mining has had many developments in recent years, from the early days of tunneling, digging, and manually extracting the coal on carts to large open-cut and longwall mines. Mining at this scale requires the use of draglines, trucks, conveyors, hydraulic jacks, and shearers.
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