Removing the Coal

P19760210105-GM Men sorting coal at the Lethbridge Collieries

Mining was dark, heavy, and dangerous work for both the miners and the horses that pulled the coal cars along the tracks. At first all work was done by pick and shovel, but by 1896, advanced mining technology was introduced. Compressed air was used to force clean air down into the mine and was also used to drive a mechanical pick machine on wheels. This not only led to more efficient coal mining, it also allowed workers to cut further into the mines. In the early days, black powder was used to blast coal loose from the seam. This powder was ignited with a squib, a straw-like fuse about 15 centimetres long that gave miners about one minute to get out of the mine. In smaller mines coal was blasted out in the evenings which left time for the smoke to clear before the miners returned in the morning. Lethbridge mines stopped using black powder when the compressed air pick came into use. The air pick machine was a large mechanical pick that broke into the bottom of the coal seam for a distance of about 1.5 metres. It enabled the coal to be removed from the seam with less explosives and it also caused less breakage than powder usage did.