<
 
 
 
 
×
>
hide You are viewing an archived web page collected at the request of University of Alberta using Archive-It. This page was captured on 16:42:08 Dec 08, 2010, and is part of the HCF Alberta Online Encyclopedia collection. The information on this web page may be out of date. See All versions of this archived page. Loading media information
 
   
 
 

AlbertaSource.ca
 
 

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
 
 

Dragline

A Dragline is a special machine is used for stripping the overburden from the coal. These machines stand more than seventy feet from the ground to the top and the steel boom measures more than 200 feet in length. The overall weight of one may be as much as 2000 tons, or equivalent to the weight of 300 elephants. In Saskatchewan the open pit method has been used for several metallic minerals.

Open cuts are worked progressively deeper until the economic limit is reached, or the material of value runs out. They are wider at the upper rim than at the pit bottom, to ensure safety, and to provide a gradual spiral roadway for trucks and other equipment. Vertical holes are repeatedly drilled thirty feet or more in depth along the levels, which are called benches. After blasting, the broken ore is loaded onto trucks and hauled up the twisting access road for treatment.

Dragline Bucket

Dragline Bucket