2. Coal Mining  The goal of coal mining is to economically remove coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s is widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States, United Kingdom, and South Africa, a coal mine and its structures are a "colliery". In Australia, "colliery" generally refers to an underground coal mine.coalSteelcement

3. History of Coal Mining  The oldest continuously worked deep-mine in the United Kingdom is Tower Colliery in South Wales valleys in the heart of the South Wales coalfield. This colliery was developed in 1805, and its miners bought it out at the end of the 20th century, to prevent it from being closed. Tower Colliery was finally closed on 25 January 2008, although production continues at the Aberpergwym drift mine nearby.  Coal was mined in America in the early 1700s, and commercial mining started around 1730 in Midlothian, Virginia.  Coal-cutting machines were invented in the 1880s. Before the invention, coal was mined from underground with a pick and shovel. By 1912 surface mining was conducted with steam shovels designed for coal mining.

5. Surface Mining  Surface mining (also commonly called strip mining, though this is actually only one possible form of surface mining), is a type of mining in which soil and rock overlying the mineral deposit (the overburden) are removed. It is the opposite of underground mining, in which the overlying rock is left in place, and the mineral removed through shafts or tunnels. Surface coal mining in Wyoming in the United States.

6. Underground mining (soft rock)  Most coal seams are too deep underground for opencast mining and require underground mining, which method currently accounts for about 60% of world coal production. In deep mining, the room and pillar or bord and pillar method progresses along the seam, while pillars and timber are left standing to support the mine roof. Once room and pillar mines have been developed to a stopping point (limited by geology, ventilation, or economics), a supplementary version of room and pillar mining, termed second mining or retreat mining, is commonly started. Miners remove the coal in the pillars, thereby recovering as much coal from the coal seam as possible. A work area involved in pillar extraction is called a pillar section. Modern pillar sections use remote-controlled equipment, including large hydraulic mobile roof-supports, which can prevent cave-ins until the miners and their equipment have left a work area. The mobile roof supports are similar to a large dining-room table, but with hydraulic jacks for legs. After the large pillars of coal have been mined away, the mobile roof support's legs shorten and it is withdrawn to a safe area. The mine roof typically collapses once the mobile roof supports leave an area.

7. five principal methods of underground mining  Longwall mining- is a form of underground coal mining where a long wall of coal is mined in a single slice  Continuous mining-(also called bord and pillar) is a mining system in which the mined material is extracted across a horizontal plane while leaving "pillars" of untouched material to support the overburden leaving open areas or "rooms" underground.  Blast mining-is the controlled use of explosives to excavate or remove rock  Retreat mining-is a term used to reference the final phase of an underground mining technique known as room and pillar mining. This involves excavating a room or chamber while leaving behind pillars of material for support.

8. Other Methods of Coal Mining  Area mining  Contour mining  Mountaintop removal mining  Room and pillar mining

10. Coal mining can result in a number of adverse effects on the environment. Surface mining of coal completely eliminates existing vegetation, destroys the genetic soil profile, displaces or destroys wildlife and habitat, degrades air quality, alters current land uses, and to some extent permanently changes the general topography of the area mined, This often results in a scarred landscape with no scenic value. Rehabilitation or reclamation mitigates some of these concerns and is required by Federal Law, specifically the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977. Mine tailing dumps produce acid mine drainage which can seep into waterways and aquifers, with consequences on ecological and human health. If underground mine tunnels collapse, this can cause subsidence of land surfaces. During actual mining operations, methane, a known greenhouse gas, may be released into the air. And by the movement, storage, and redistribution of soil, the community of microorganisms and nutrient cycling processes can be disrupted.

11. Ecology of Mining  Coal mining can result in a number of adverse effects on the environment. Surface mining of coal completely eliminates existing vegetation, destroys the genetic soil profile, displaces or destroys wildlife and habitat, degrades air quality, alters current land uses, and to some extent permanently changes the general topography of the area mined, This often results in a scarred landscape with no scenic value. Rehabilitation or reclamation mitigates some of these concerns and is required by Federal Law, specifically the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977.

12. Problem of air and water pollutions in Mining areas  Air and water are universal resources of multifuncional character. Air is a resource intensively used primarily by industry, transport and public utilities. As a result the quality of air with respect to human health undergoes deterioration in large part of industrial areas. The situation is similar in the case of water sources.

13. Air Pollution  Worldwide air pollution - contamination of the air by noxious gases and minute particles of solid and liquid matter (particulates) in concentrations that endanger health - is responsible for large numbers of deaths and cases of respiratory disease. According to their chemical characteristics, concentration in the air mass and meteorological conditions, air pollutant substances may have a major or minor impact on air quality. The occurrence of strong winds and rain, for instance, may have a good impact on the pollutants dispersion, and the presence of sunlight can have a negative effect on air quality.

14. Water pollution in mining areas  In industrial areas available natural resources of water are very poor due to anthropogenic contamination. It is an effect of both wastewater discharge to the environment and improper disposal of pollutants, waste, operational failures, spills to the environment. For instance, in the Katowice Agglomeration most of river’s water don’t fall within any purity classes. Because of contamination, only a small portion of surface waters can be used for economic purposes.

15.  We should LESSEN the usage of coal mining for it can cause devastating damage on our landforms. If Coal Mining could not be lessened, at least pick out a spot were there are no “beautiful” landforms that could be damaged. As stated in Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA) which means it has to be approved by the federal government before mining begins.