Shaft mining in the context of "Dewatering"

In underground mining a hoist or winder is used to raise and lower conveyances within the mine shaft. Modern hoists are normally powered using electric motors, historically with direct current drives utilizing Ward Leonard control machines and later solid-state converters (thyristors), although modern large hoists use alternating current drives that are variable frequency controlled. There are three principal types of hoists used in mining applications:

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.

A borehole is a narrow shaft bored in the ground, either vertically or horizontally. A borehole may be constructed for many different purposes, including the extraction of water (drilled water well and tube well), other liquids (such as petroleum), or gases (such as natural gas). It may also be part of a geotechnical investigation, environmental site assessment, mineral exploration, temperature measurement, as a pilot hole for installing piers or underground utilities, for geothermal installations, or for underground storage of unwanted substances, e.g. in carbon capture and storage.

Flint mining is the process of extracting flint from underground. Flint mines can be as simple as a pit on the surface or an area of quarrying, or it may refer to a series of shafts and tunnels used to extract flint.

Flint has been mined since the Palaeolithic, but was most common during the Neolithic. Flint was especially valued in prehistory for its use in weaponry. Although flint is not as valuable a resource in modern times, a few flint mines remain in operation even today (for example at Miorcani).

Spallation is a process in which fragments of material (spall) are ejected from a body due to impact or stress. In the context of impact mechanics it describes ejection of material from a target during impact by a projectile. In planetary physics, spallation describes meteoritic impacts on a planetary surface and the effects of stellar winds and cosmic rays on planetary atmospheres and surfaces. In the context of mining or geology, spallation can refer to pieces of rock breaking off a rock face due to the internal stresses in the rock; it commonly occurs on mine shaft walls. In the context of metal oxidation, spallation refers to the breaking off of the oxide layer from a metal. For example, the flaking off of rust from iron. In the context of anthropology, spallation is a process used to make stone tools such as arrowheads by knapping. In nuclear physics, spallation is the process in which a heavy nucleus emits numerous nucleons as a result of being hit by a high-energy particle, thus greatly reducing its atomic weight. In industrial processes and bioprocessing the loss of tubing material due to the repeated flexing of the tubing within a peristaltic pump is termed spallation.