auger mining
auger mining, method for recovering coal by boring into a coal seam at the base of strata exposed by excavation. Normally one of the lowest-cost techniques of mining, it is limited to horizontal or slightly pitched seams that have been exposed by geologic erosion. Augering is usually associated with contour strip-mining, recovering coal for a limited depth beyond the point where stripping becomes uneconomical because the seam of coal lies so far beneath the surface.
Citation Information
Article Title:
auger mining
Website Name:
Encyclopaedia Britannica
Publisher:
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Date Published:
08 November 2021
Access Date:
March 14, 2025