10s TAILGATE - DALEK [FLYGHT] - PUMP IN THE WATER.

high pit wilma :-

FOR REFERENCE..the hardwood chock lying in the water,in front of the pump,was made of beech, was two feet long, by six inches square. The coal seam was about 36 inches high.[varying as each set of shots were fired,and advance was made]

The coal seam was due to run out totally within the next few yards of advance,if we had continued,due to a 36 feet thick whinstone dyke intrusion-and reserves of over 60MILLION TONS of clean virgin coal was waiting to be mined......YES..CLEVER BOYS AT THE TOP...AREN'T THEY...MIND YOU,TO BE FAIR,IT IS CHEAPER FROM CHINA..

BigLoada :- Thats a great example of strata. Whats the type of stone lying above the coal? Is it Whin?

high pit wilma :-

No,it's highly silicated sandstone ,really hard to drill,and extremely 
abrasive to drill bits,and the mechanical parts of machinery exposed to it,such as the caterpillar tracks on the eimco shovel-loader.[miners refer to it as "post-stone " ] 
WHIN doesn't lie on top of coal,it's an igneous intrusion,which,millions of years ago,as hot molten lava,forced it's
way through the strata to the surface,[usually-but not always..]
As it passed through the coal seams, it burned the coal on either side of it,turning it into what is known as "cinder coal"-the width of cinder coal usually equals the width of the whin intrusion [or "dyke"]
We,in the tailgate,were just about to hit the cindercoal square-on,
if we had kept on going-the whin dyke was only a few yards away.

BigLoada :- Bloody hell man, you are an encyclopaedia of geology!!
Fantastic!

high pit wilma :-

JUST TO AVOID ANY CONFUSION,WHIN DOESNT LIE ON TOP OF COAL,BECAUSE IT'S MOLTEN ROCK,WHITE HOT LAVA...AND IT WOULD TURN THE COAL TO CINDER..TOTALLY! THE MAGMA [LAVA] ,USUALLY FORCED IT'S WAY THROUGH THE STRATA,VERTICALLY,UNDER TREMENDOUS PRESSURE,UNTIL IT SURFACED,IN THE FORM OF A VOLCANO. NOW,IF IT ENCOUNTERED A LAYER OF EXTREMELY HARD AND THICK STRATA,IT WOULD TRAVEL ALONG THE LINE OF STRATIFICATION,
AND FORCE THE THE OVERLYING LAYERS OF STRATA UP,CAUSING THE LANDSCAPE TO RISE ALSO-FORMING HILLY RIDGES,MOORS ETC.THIS IS TERMED A "WHIN SILL" -CRASTER VILLAGE IS BUILT ON A WHIN SILL-GLACIAL ACTION REMOVED THE SOFTER OVERBURDEN AND LEFT THE WHIN SILL EXPOSED FOR ALL WHO KNOW TO GO AND MARVEL AT IT!!!!

high pit wilma :-

Whin dykes cause problems for miners,because of the upset they cause in the strata.
Because the molten magma burns it's way through the strata,it leaves open pathways for either water or noxious or flammable gases under pressure,to force their way into the workings.
Often,after we fired a round of about 100 shots,simultaneously,with 150 lbs of Polar Ajax powder[explosive],we'd go back in to check that all of the detonators had gone off,and we'd have to retreat quickly,because of the smell of sulphur,ammonia,and other gases.
Rotten eggs was the worst smell,cos that was H2S,HYDROGEN DISULPHIDE,OR "STINKDAMP",as it was known,and which kills the sense of smell within seconds,although the danger is still present....many men fell victim to that silent killer.....
Sometimes we found cavities in the freshly shot-out whin,and they were always lined with beautiful crystals,peices of which we used to bring out for our kids to show their schoolteacher.
I wouldn't mind betting that a lot of the big peices,like small footballs,ended up as ornaments on the teacher's hearths at home!
So that's why the "cementation pump" is being used,to seal off any possible breaks in the strata,as we neared the actual dyke,with progressive blasting each day.