I had no idea they’re legally required to reclaim/replenish the land when they finish up mining. I figured most mines just close up and leave the land barren
Only coal miners are required to perform stringent reclamation. Any other industry or individual can go out and turn an area into a environmental and ecological war zone without regulatory consequence.
That most "eco" people think all miners just make a giant hole and pollute everything in a 100 mile radius and destroy the ecosystem then move on. There's so much more to the entire process with reclamation and safety and eco during the mining process
You provide your viewers with an unwavering amount of knowledge and education. Anyone would be dumb not to study these videos and use them to their advantage.
I work in a deep mines in eastern KENTUCKY, 3rd shift 11pm-9am. Coal is all we have, I’m a 3rd generation miner in the same seam of coal POND CREEK seam my dad and grandfather worker in, in the 70’s and 80’s. We’re upwards of 3 miles underground.
You should show people how they mine for battery metals for their "environmentally friendly" EV's. They really should be called blood metals for the same reason they call blood/conflict diamonds.
And you want war for polluting other countries? The West is being subdued due to thus destructive thinking. You cannot destroy the environment, no country "owns" it.
The quality of these videos is high, especially with the coloring work. It's well-produced, but not over-produced. Aaron is direct and well-educated on the subjects and that causes the content to hold viewers' interest very well. All of these come together to give high quality documentary-style "vlogs" that are reliable and (literally) down-to-earth, since Aaron has no facade unlike what you see in actors and presenters that usually do documentaries of these kinds of things. (such as Modern Marvels on Discovery).
Dude, check out his website and look at the founding members. This guy is a shill for construction companies. You fell for his facade the moment you thought he was being down to earth lmao.
@@xXPacoXx100 His whole company is centered around making construction companies look interesting and the work being pretty cool, if not meaningful. He better shill for them if he wants to stay in business.
I've toured a coal mine in Colorado and found it truly interesting. I love that old mines are being reclaimed. But of all the advances the industry claims as virtue, how many were done without government regulation. I'm not certain we should be praising the industry for simply obeying the law. I've never been congratulated for not driving while drunk.
Yes based on being forced by the government coal has improved. But there are still many nasty places left. Look at mountain top removal and the water issue they cause and left unresolved. Yes this is a great PR video, not does not show the full picture.
Love the NAACO series and seeing all the mines. My dad has been with NACCO for 30+ years and it has provided an amazing life for me and my brothers! Was blessed to intern at Sabine mine for several years while in college. Many memories from that operation and the amazing people that work there!
Very very well explained I work in a quarry where we process high calcium limestone and they burn our stone in a power plant to neutralize the acid in the coal
First of all, amazing content! I'd love to see more details (if permissable). Like how the pits are planned, the coal is found, site maps, etc... Like in depth interviews with the people who do the planning, that could be it's own video! Then you could do a whole video on the soil movement, what the over all plan is, the trucks and machines moving it out and back in. A video on The coal, what quality is needed before it starts going to the power plants, the different machines used, how much is actually moved, the whole supply line of it. Finally a video showing the land reclamation process, how it's starts, planting, terrain matching, everything you can with actual footage of the work. Maybe a whole video just for the repair shop! I do love your videos but always wish there were more details and descriptions. I love watching the big machines do their thing but often feel like you could've spent a whole video on one machine explaining how it works and why it's the way it is. I honestly think that you could make a lot more videos with the locations you go to and the content you film. But I know it's also a lot more work and setting up more specific filming. Regardless keep up the great work!
Great vid! When you said "without coal, we wouldnt have electricity", I agree. But I would also say "without coal, we wouldnt have steel, silicon computer processor chips, or concrete", just to mention a few necessities. My motto is: Earth First...we'll mine the other planets later!
You dont need coal for any of those things, coal is just the super cheep option there are other ways to do them that dont involve coal or any other fossil fuel for that matter
@@berenlea486 Wow! It seems that i have just found the only person who knows how to produce steel without coke, produce silicon chips without high purity silicon, and replace flyash in concrete mix.
I really wish you could get this out to a much larger audience. I'm in the oil/gas industry and our land reclamation programs are similar on a smaller scale, as you can imagine. (Much less surface disturbance). The general public should be more aware of what the energy industry really does. Best I can do to help you is give you a thumbs up!
There are millions of abandoned wells in North America. Like Hanford, there are a lot of facilities that don't comply with modern regulations that were abandoned decades ago. Cleaning up and Make It Alright meanwhile eliminating the EPA, and deregulating that you can dump anything. Both popular sentiments within Congress.
Amazing videos! Only thing I'd love to see would be a tour of some of these power plants where the coal is brought. Try and show people the scrubber systems used, and what they do with the ash. Thanks for all your content and showing how the world lumbers on!
That's my current field as a stationary steam engineer. It's pretty amazing to see what actually goes on inside the large plants that people never hear about. It's unfortunate they won't let you tour a large gigawatt facility but maybe try smaller plants? There are really cool systems going into place from ultra low nox using def injection to high tech scrubbers in the stacks. I work in a lumber mill running the boilers that burn biomass to spin a turbine to produce all of our power and create the heat needed to dry the kilns. Every step is being taken to ensure a clean vibrant future for the Maine woods.
Again, great video Aaron. I think you hit the jackpot with dealing with this niche of the Dirt World. Not a lot of people know about the backside of how our world is powered and you bring the information to all of us! Thank you
This was a great video and thank you very much for bringing this to a lot of people that have no idea of how much work goes into mining coal and then how much work goes back into the reclaiming which in most cases makes the land more usable and valuable leveled out in places than it wasn't before the mining . 🤗👍💫
From coal country I thank you. I have never been part of the industry but I see and hear about what’s going on up in the mines all the time. Appreciate your content.
Thanks Aaron, interesting to learn about the reclamation process. Could you talk about the wider environmental implications of coal mining on climate? I.e. burning coal as a driver of climate change (you mentioned the coal here was being used in power plants)
Maybe you should go and research climate change, and look at the methods used to determine if the climate is changing and by how much and how the CO2 link factors in to the debate. If you think this episode on coal mining was interesting, prepare for your mind to be blown.
I was at that mine in the early 80's building the two Bucyrus Erie machines. Worked for a company out of Evansville Indiana. Reagan was president and what good times! Good ol rock n roll hair bands and beautiful Texas women then too!
Company I work for installs the electrical equipment, cables, operators chairs and such. We bring the machine to optimum working condition. Been on all the dragline machines in your videos and a lot more. Great videos keep them coming.
Worked at a long wall mine for 10 years on the surface as a dozer operator. Before cline passed away it was the best place I ever worked after he passed not so much. But I do miss it.
Keep up the good work! To be blue collar to be American means we support ALL energy. We need jobs, honest work, and energy people need to know that those of us who work in the energy sector don’t want to destroy the planet, for god sakes we play in it, live in it and die in it! You live in the city and you don’t want to live in the dark ages? You need dirty jobs to fuel your excess. Keep it up man! They’re tryin to kill my state of Wyoming cause of just plain ignorance.
Coal isn't going anywhere soon, but Wyoming is digging its own grave by relying on coal for most of the state government revenue. They need to embrace some newer, cold weather friendly industries like data centers and industrial marijuana, instead of crying when Washington state doesn't want to export Wyoming coal, or shitting on Bill Gates for wanting to invest billions in Wyoming nuclear
This whole video is massively eye opening. I can't say how right you are when I think of coal mining, even though I know its not the case, your mind still goes to the guys covered in black head to toe with a pickaxe and a oil lamp. The reclamation is amazing. The one thing I will say is these dude for sure SOUND like miners haha.
Here in Australia, we've a few problems with owners not being on top of their rehab, until quite a bit later in the operation. This is more an issue with older mines, where rehab wasn't taken as seriously as it should have been. Most current mines are pretty on top of their rehab from the moment the dirt starts getting moved. Rehab has to be designed into the mining operation. How well do you guys cope with acid sulphates in overburden? This is something we've only just realized is a problem here in Aus in the last 10 years or so, and has the potential to be a major issue?
@@AaronWitt Yeah, Australian operators basically took the attitude that "Acid sulphates. That's only a problem in hard rock mines!" Then they ran some tests, and got a very rude surprise.... Especially when you consider you need to design spoil piles to last about a thousand years if they are part of final landforms. One more question. Are these guys in pit dumping? Obviously, that's the case with the dragline, but with truck and shovel operations, it normally gets transported to a spoil pile. I ask because, over the last few years, a few operators have been regretting in pit dumping because with the substantial increase in coal price, digging deeper is now really worthwhile. A number of pits in Australia are going to nearly 200m, or deeper, seam thickness dependent Unless your pit has been already filled in (another reason some big operators, e.g. Glencore, don't like draglines.)
@@andreyfomenko2644 It's not just soil chemistry though. You need to have a good understanding of the chemistry of all your overburden, otherwise, you get unpleasant surprises 20 to 30 years later.
Before mining, we drill cores to 10' below the lowest coal seam we mine. Samples are sent for laboratory analysis & if acid forming materials are identified, we know to bury them so no acid seeps will form in the reclamation.
All the love from the UK. Here's a point, I'm old enough to remember the buildings in the "Northern Town" where I live being black because most people had coal burning fires/stoves in their houses. These building have been cleaned and look nice and clean. If you go to wikipedia and look up Sellafield Nuclear site, part of that talks about a clean up(for part of the site) running until 2104. TWO THOUSAND AND ONE OH FOUR, boy oh boy I shudder reading that. Many thanks for this vid.
Absolutely love these videos ,As a mining boilermaker working on the biggest machinery in the world in the Hunter Valley Australia. It's great to see how mining operations work a round the world with your video Aaron. Also Aaron when are you coming Australia would love to see a video of the super pit in Kalgoorlie or Mt Thorley coal mine.
Great video and I love how you explained everything I got s lot of information from this video now I know more about coal mining than I did before! Great video and I’m looking forward to another watch me work video soon!
It's not so much the mining of coal that's the problem, except for the damage to local aquifers that can never be repaired, (once the're damaged, the're gone forever) ! it's the burning of that nasty shit ! If they don't mine it, they can't burn it ! I understand everyone's trying to protect their job but, there are too many alternatives these day's to keep mining this crap !
I worked at an surface coal mine in Montana for about 5 years. I saw first hand all of the rules and regulations that mines operate under. Complicated work. As far as I'm concerned it was one of the best paying in wages and benefits jobs I've ever had. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend anyone working at a coal mine.
I am an in school for environmental conservation and i think ill show this to my professor because a lot of students here in New York just don't understand anything about mining because were all mainly hydroelectric or wind and solar now.
@@AaronWitt Yea, where i'm from in buffalo most of the area is powered by Niagara Falls and everybody in the area thinks that people who don't use hydroelectric are doing something wrong, when in reality its just not possible in most areas because people just don't have that kind of access. And Niagara Falls it barely powers two cities so i'm and im not sure where people think the other power comes from in the winter when its frozen over ori n other areas in new york further away 🤣 Your videos are really good man keep it up.
I work for a sand mine. We have a open and underground pits. Our underground is 1 mile thru and Tunnels everywhere. We have to do the same exact training as coal minners do. I run a cat 980. Minning opened my eyes. Never thought about there was many different grades of sand.
Would love to see a video like this showing off a smaller aggregate operation. My particular one is ran by a large company, but we're their basement essentially. I work production and maintenance on the plant and fill in as needed. We're lucky to go a week without fighting the plant. We crush roughly 2500 tons a day, but the whole crushing operation is ran with 5 people. 1 loader man, 2 haul truck drivers, and 2 at the plant.
You know what would be a good video series is if you went down to Texas to shoot some videos on the oilfield, wether they are spreading the used mud, or building the pads or actually drilling or fracing the well, with your quality of videos that would be amazing to watch
@@AaronWitt thats what sucks but thankfully I’ve been an insider on the downstream of things, my dad used to crack and now we own a trucking company hauling crude oil through out Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado and just all over where ever pays the best.
I worked in an open pit mine that was a smaller scale. It's called Pabco Gypsum of Las Vegas and it's the only drywall manufacturer that mines gypsum and puts it straight into the production plant. This is a great video and I love seeing the reclamation process.
Every item used in human endeavor is created by mining. It came from the Earth and not one bit of the current human civilization could exist without mining or utilizing the Earth in some form or another. Mining, farming, fishing, timber all have the Earth in common. Nothing that the Green movement and their prohibitions against all forms of Earth centered endeavor has any legitimate or realistic end in view. In order for people to exist on this planet, the planet is the source and protection is not the answer, management is.
Love the vids. It'd be helpful for regular joes if you referenced cubic yards when describing machines... this dragline bucket pulls x yards. For the normal dirt monkey the size of these things is astounding. Keep up the good work.
PA Mining did a live Q&A stream a couple weeks ago and he talked about some of this. It's quite interesting what people don't realise and what other refuse to say on the subject.
Am I the only one that sees that dragline and wants to drive that thing ! well not drive it but operate it ! it looks like a lot of fun 😁👍 yes I already operated equipment so it's not a huge leap for me obviously I already like operating equipment but still that thing looks awesome 😎👍
Never knew Texas had coal. Being mined and taken directly to the power plant is a definite win for the environment and, yes, the company. Cheaper costs and less transportation pollution.
Just throwing my own 2 cents in. I'm currently working on constructing a haul road and clearing for a solar farm on a large gold mine in the southern hemisphere. Keeping it abstract in the interests of being neutral. One of the most notable features is that open pit mining has zero effort towards replacing the dirt. Massive pits are all over the mine, and invariably and obviously, you can see a very large mound of dirt not far from each pit. I'm well aware the coal mining method in this video allows much easier replacement and reprofiling of the landscape than open pit mining does and if pits were to be refilled after mining this would be uneconomically viable in most if not all instances.
Yeah, they don’t dig into the mountains of West Virginia as much anymore. Instead they just cut the top off the mountain. But that’s hard coal, not the soft lignite you see in Texas. But when they are finished, those mountains look like Texas because they chopped them all down. It’s not a pretty sight.
Let me tell you simple answer for that is people don’t use the protective equipment they’re provided by the company. I’m in this industry i see it everyday. Yesterday another guy he was nearly crushed while lifting the cutting edges by a magnet 🧲. And this was not reported to the management. So don’t blame the companies but we grow up people are a big problem. Don’t expect a safety officer to chase you around to wear a musk or follow the safe procedure of doing a job.
Idk about on shore oil but oil rigs in the gulf get removed to the point that not even a beer can tab is left, when most of the rigs act like an artificial reef down there, in my opinion they should just chop them off 80ft below and leave the rest
I'm certainly not anti-coal/anti-mining, it's a big part of what got this country to where it is today. It is wonderful that they are doing this, but keep in mind the mining industry was dragged kicking and screaming to the version of the industry that we see today. You need to lose your "big girl" references.
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
What's the most misunderstood thing about mining?
Miners
I had no idea they’re legally required to reclaim/replenish the land when they finish up mining. I figured most mines just close up and leave the land barren
Only coal miners are required to perform stringent reclamation. Any other industry or individual can go out and turn an area into a environmental and ecological war zone without regulatory consequence.
That most "eco" people think all miners just make a giant hole and pollute everything in a 100 mile radius and destroy the ecosystem then move on. There's so much more to the entire process with reclamation and safety and eco during the mining process
“The knowledge of the miners”
You provide your viewers with an unwavering amount of knowledge and education. Anyone would be dumb not to study these videos and use them to their advantage.
thanks Travis I really appreciate that. I'm doing my best
I work in a deep mines in eastern KENTUCKY, 3rd shift 11pm-9am. Coal is all we have, I’m a 3rd generation miner in the same seam of coal POND CREEK seam my dad and grandfather worker in, in the 70’s and 80’s. We’re upwards of 3 miles underground.
Respect to you, your father, and grandfather! Be safe andrew!
You should show people how they mine for battery metals for their "environmentally friendly" EV's. They really should be called blood metals for the same reason they call blood/conflict diamonds.
Exactly 💯
And you want war for polluting other countries? The West is being subdued due to thus destructive thinking. You cannot destroy the environment, no country "owns" it.
@aaronwitt Do it! I will share the video on all my channels, as I'm sure others will.
Ya know, it's entirely possible for those minerals to be problematic and EVs to still be good.
It's almost like the world is complicated 🤷
The quality of these videos is high, especially with the coloring work. It's well-produced, but not over-produced. Aaron is direct and well-educated on the subjects and that causes the content to hold viewers' interest very well. All of these come together to give high quality documentary-style "vlogs" that are reliable and (literally) down-to-earth, since Aaron has no facade unlike what you see in actors and presenters that usually do documentaries of these kinds of things. (such as Modern Marvels on Discovery).
thanks for the kind comment and for watching. We're doing our best to give a real look into this world most people don't know even exists
Dude, check out his website and look at the founding members. This guy is a shill for construction companies. You fell for his facade the moment you thought he was being down to earth lmao.
@@xXPacoXx100 His whole company is centered around making construction companies look interesting and the work being pretty cool, if not meaningful. He better shill for them if he wants to stay in business.
I've toured a coal mine in Colorado and found it truly interesting. I love that old mines are being reclaimed. But of all the advances the industry claims as virtue, how many were done without government regulation. I'm not certain we should be praising the industry for simply obeying the law. I've never been congratulated for not driving while drunk.
Yes based on being forced by the government coal has improved. But there are still many nasty places left. Look at mountain top removal and the water issue they cause and left unresolved. Yes this is a great PR video, not does not show the full picture.
Congratulations for not driving drunk 👍
That is not the same. Not being allowed to do something isn't the same as being required to do something.
@@TheAdekrijger Pa-tay-toe pa-tah-toe
I guess the idea here is to show that mining today is quite different than what it used to be.
Love the NAACO series and seeing all the mines. My dad has been with NACCO for 30+ years and it has provided an amazing life for me and my brothers! Was blessed to intern at Sabine mine for several years while in college. Many memories from that operation and the amazing people that work there!
wow that's fantastic to hear
Very very well explained I work in a quarry where we process high calcium limestone and they burn our stone in a power plant to neutralize the acid in the coal
that's awesome. Thanks for watching Paul
First of all, amazing content!
I'd love to see more details (if permissable). Like how the pits are planned, the coal is found, site maps, etc... Like in depth interviews with the people who do the planning, that could be it's own video!
Then you could do a whole video on the soil movement, what the over all plan is, the trucks and machines moving it out and back in. A video on The coal, what quality is needed before it starts going to the power plants, the different machines used, how much is actually moved, the whole supply line of it. Finally a video showing the land reclamation process, how it's starts, planting, terrain matching, everything you can with actual footage of the work. Maybe a whole video just for the repair shop!
I do love your videos but always wish there were more details and descriptions. I love watching the big machines do their thing but often feel like you could've spent a whole video on one machine explaining how it works and why it's the way it is.
I honestly think that you could make a lot more videos with the locations you go to and the content you film. But I know it's also a lot more work and setting up more specific filming. Regardless keep up the great work!
Great vid! When you said "without coal, we wouldnt have electricity", I agree. But I would also say "without coal, we wouldnt have steel, silicon computer processor chips, or concrete", just to mention a few necessities. My motto is:
Earth First...we'll mine the other planets later!
Great points
You dont need coal for any of those things, coal is just the super cheep option there are other ways to do them that dont involve coal or any other fossil fuel for that matter
@@berenlea486 Wow! It seems that i have just found the only person who knows how to produce steel without coke, produce silicon chips without high purity silicon, and replace flyash in concrete mix.
@@curtis-thebicentennialist1776 good point I’m a coal miner in Kentucky people just don’t realize what all coal provided for them but what Do I know
It's easy to reclaim if the area is already flat terrain in the mountains it's a totally different story
Yeah they gloss over mountain top removal mining. There is a mountain before mining, and it aint there after mining.
@@greyfox78569 unless there removing snow caped mountains the environmental damage is minor.
@@greyfox78569 they should replace the coal removed with liberals.
Yep backing haulers around the tops of the highwalls.. spent many nights doing that.
On the other hand a mountainous region may benefit from an area with a flattened landscape.
I love when a video gives me a new appreciation for something I didn’t understand before thank you for that :)
thanks for watching and for keeping an open mind Tyler
I really wish you could get this out to a much larger audience. I'm in the oil/gas industry and our land reclamation programs are similar on a smaller scale, as you can imagine. (Much less surface disturbance). The general public should be more aware of what the energy industry really does. Best I can do to help you is give you a thumbs up!
You think putting some grass over a coal mine fixes coal problems??
There are millions of abandoned wells in North America.
Like Hanford, there are a lot of facilities that don't comply with modern regulations that were abandoned decades ago. Cleaning up and Make It Alright meanwhile eliminating the EPA, and deregulating that you can dump anything. Both popular sentiments within Congress.
Amazing videos! Only thing I'd love to see would be a tour of some of these power plants where the coal is brought. Try and show people the scrubber systems used, and what they do with the ash. Thanks for all your content and showing how the world lumbers on!
haha if only we could get into a power plant... doubtful it'll happen unfortunately. I'd love to show that side of things
That's my current field as a stationary steam engineer. It's pretty amazing to see what actually goes on inside the large plants that people never hear about. It's unfortunate they won't let you tour a large gigawatt facility but maybe try smaller plants? There are really cool systems going into place from ultra low nox using def injection to high tech scrubbers in the stacks. I work in a lumber mill running the boilers that burn biomass to spin a turbine to produce all of our power and create the heat needed to dry the kilns. Every step is being taken to ensure a clean vibrant future for the Maine woods.
@@AaronWitt Come out too Utah, I have some family friends in that industry with the ability to grant you access. DM me.
I install exterior trim made from fly ash
Very well made video. I am a mining engineer myself and I always want to make a video like this to show the world how much they misunderstood mining.
Again, great video Aaron. I think you
hit the jackpot with dealing with this niche of the Dirt World. Not a lot of people know about the backside of how our world is powered and you bring the information to all of us! Thank you
Thank you very much I appreciate your kind words Dan
This was a great video and thank you very much for bringing this to a lot of people that have no idea of how much work goes into mining coal and then how much work goes back into the reclaiming which in most cases makes the land more usable and valuable leveled out in places than it wasn't before the mining .
🤗👍💫
thank you for watching!
Oh look electric car fuel. Wait until you find out what it takes to mine material for all those Californian batteries you can’t charge.
From coal country I thank you. I have never been part of the industry but I see and hear about what’s going on up in the mines all the time. Appreciate your content.
I’m glad you enjoy it!! Thank you for watchinf
This was my favorite video yet. Excellently made. Thank you!!
thanks Johnny!
I think you have a small window to see how Germany mines coal still. Top content again 👍
Thanks Aaron, interesting to learn about the reclamation process. Could you talk about the wider environmental implications of coal mining on climate? I.e. burning coal as a driver of climate change (you mentioned the coal here was being used in power plants)
No because the video wouldn’t make sense then
Maybe you should go and research climate change, and look at the methods used to determine if the climate is changing and by how much and how the CO2 link factors in to the debate. If you think this episode on coal mining was interesting, prepare for your mind to be blown.
I was at that mine in the early 80's building the two Bucyrus Erie machines. Worked for a company out of Evansville Indiana. Reagan was president and what good times! Good ol rock n roll hair bands and beautiful Texas women then too!
What an amazing video……you need to get this on discovery so the whole world can the amazing work they do
we're doing our best to get there!
Company I work for installs the electrical equipment, cables, operators chairs and such. We bring the machine to optimum working condition. Been on all the dragline machines in your videos and a lot more. Great videos keep them coming.
That’s really awesome you get to work around these machines
I'm pretty impressed at how it looked afterwards. Remarkable! But also nobody can deny that we should reduce coal usage as much as feasible.
Love your videos. I'm happy to see you liked the 800. I have been working for Tennant for 25 years.
Worked at a long wall mine for 10 years on the surface as a dozer operator. Before cline passed away it was the best place I ever worked after he passed not so much. But I do miss it.
really cool Dan. Thanks for watching
Thank you so much Aaron for publishing this. Excellent content 4 the word to see
thank you very much for watching
I absolutely love you channel! Great job explaining COAL!
thanks Don!
Another great video. Enjoy this type of content
Thanks David!
I’ve learned a lot about Naples Florida thing s I never knew yet I live there!
Keep up the good work! To be blue collar to be American means we support ALL energy. We need jobs, honest work, and energy people need to know that those of us who work in the energy sector don’t want to destroy the planet, for god sakes we play in it, live in it and die in it! You live in the city and you don’t want to live in the dark ages? You need dirty jobs to fuel your excess. Keep it up man! They’re tryin to kill my state of Wyoming cause of just plain ignorance.
thanks for watching!
Coal isn't going anywhere soon, but Wyoming is digging its own grave by relying on coal for most of the state government revenue. They need to embrace some newer, cold weather friendly industries like data centers and industrial marijuana, instead of crying when Washington state doesn't want to export Wyoming coal, or shitting on Bill Gates for wanting to invest billions in Wyoming nuclear
This is a very well done documentary/production, or whatever the term for this is. I love it. Keep it up
thank you for watching!!
This is one of your most informative videos Aaron. Very enlightening. Mike 🇦🇺
As a coal mining industry employee you have done justice to the industry
This is exactly the kind of information I've been looking for!! Thank you!!
Thank you.....good to see this again...I worked in coal mining in South Africa...I loved it
The Big Muskie's uncle, cousin, little brother? I like these the is always something new I learn watching these.
This whole video is massively eye opening. I can't say how right you are when I think of coal mining, even though I know its not the case, your mind still goes to the guys covered in black head to toe with a pickaxe and a oil lamp.
The reclamation is amazing.
The one thing I will say is these dude for sure SOUND like miners haha.
Nice filming!
wow, I just found your channel today, i'm impressed. I absolutely had no idea that mining operations were restored after being mined.
glad you're here!
Here in Australia, we've a few problems with owners not being on top of their rehab, until quite a bit later in the operation. This is more an issue with older mines, where rehab wasn't taken as seriously as it should have been.
Most current mines are pretty on top of their rehab from the moment the dirt starts getting moved. Rehab has to be designed into the mining operation.
How well do you guys cope with acid sulphates in overburden? This is something we've only just realized is a problem here in Aus in the last 10 years or so, and has the potential to be a major issue?
not sure. I'll ask about it next time I'm with these folks
@@AaronWitt Yeah, Australian operators basically took the attitude that "Acid sulphates. That's only a problem in hard rock mines!" Then they ran some tests, and got a very rude surprise....
Especially when you consider you need to design spoil piles to last about a thousand years if they are part of final landforms.
One more question. Are these guys in pit dumping? Obviously, that's the case with the dragline, but with truck and shovel operations, it normally gets transported to a spoil pile. I ask because, over the last few years, a few operators have been regretting in pit dumping because with the substantial increase in coal price, digging deeper is now really worthwhile. A number of pits in Australia are going to nearly 200m, or deeper, seam thickness dependent Unless your pit has been already filled in (another reason some big operators, e.g. Glencore, don't like draglines.)
@@richardhaselwood9478 Well, they reference a regulation from 1970', so I wouldn't expect a stringent rules on a modern lookout on a soil chemistry.
@@andreyfomenko2644 It's not just soil chemistry though. You need to have a good understanding of the chemistry of all your overburden, otherwise, you get unpleasant surprises 20 to 30 years later.
Before mining, we drill cores to 10' below the lowest coal seam we mine. Samples are sent for laboratory analysis & if acid forming materials are identified, we know to bury them so no acid seeps will form in the reclamation.
Well made and informative look forward more like this.
thanks Michael!
All the love from the UK. Here's a point, I'm old enough to remember the buildings in the "Northern Town" where I live being black because most people had coal burning fires/stoves in their houses. These building have been cleaned and look nice and clean. If you go to wikipedia and look up Sellafield Nuclear site, part of that talks about a clean up(for part of the site) running until 2104. TWO THOUSAND AND ONE OH FOUR, boy oh boy I shudder reading that. Many thanks for this vid.
thanks Daniel
Absolutely love these videos ,As a mining boilermaker working on the biggest machinery in the world in the Hunter Valley Australia. It's great to see how mining operations work a round the world with your video Aaron. Also Aaron when are you coming Australia would love to see a video of the super pit in Kalgoorlie or Mt Thorley coal mine.
I love your videos, keep up the good work!
I wish the mining companies in Wv would reclaim their mines as well as this company does
Great video and I love how you explained everything I got s lot of information from this video now I know more about coal mining than I did before! Great video and I’m looking forward to another watch me work video soon!
thank you for watching!!
Coal is certified organic!
Ain’t that the truth
It's not so much the mining of coal that's the problem, except for the damage to local aquifers that can never be repaired, (once the're damaged, the're gone forever) ! it's the burning of that nasty shit ! If they don't mine it, they can't burn it ! I understand everyone's trying to protect their job but, there are too many alternatives these day's to keep mining this crap !
but there aren't alternatives which is why it's still mined and produces a vast majority of global power?
I worked at an surface coal mine in Montana for about 5 years. I saw first hand all of the rules and regulations that mines operate under. Complicated work. As far as I'm concerned it was one of the best paying in wages and benefits jobs I've ever had. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend anyone working at a coal mine.
I am an in school for environmental conservation and i think ill show this to my professor because a lot of students here in New York just don't understand anything about mining because were all mainly hydroelectric or wind and solar now.
yeah but funny enough a vast majority of our power is still from coal and gas...
@@AaronWitt Yea, where i'm from in buffalo most of the area is powered by Niagara Falls and everybody in the area thinks that people who don't use hydroelectric are doing something wrong, when in reality its just not possible in most areas because people just don't have that kind of access. And Niagara Falls it barely powers two cities so i'm and im not sure where people think the other power comes from in the winter when its frozen over ori n other areas in new york further away 🤣 Your videos are really good man keep it up.
Dude thank you for this, it was great.
Thanks for watching Ben
Would love to see ya come to trapper mine in Craig Colorado
that would be a neat one to see
You have really stepped up your UA-cam game recently!
we're doing our best!!! Thanks for watching. Only up from here
That was absolutely amazing!
thanks for watching!
I work for a sand mine. We have a open and underground pits. Our underground is 1 mile thru and Tunnels everywhere. We have to do the same exact training as coal minners do. I run a cat 980. Minning opened my eyes. Never thought about there was many different grades of sand.
Awesome video Aaron. Keep up the great content.
thank you!
Would love to see a video like this showing off a smaller aggregate operation. My particular one is ran by a large company, but we're their basement essentially. I work production and maintenance on the plant and fill in as needed. We're lucky to go a week without fighting the plant. We crush roughly 2500 tons a day, but the whole crushing operation is ran with 5 people. 1 loader man, 2 haul truck drivers, and 2 at the plant.
we will see what we can do
Great video again
Thank you!
Used to run a Tennant s30 for a few years I bloody loved that thing ❤️🇦🇺
Hard to get a grasp on how gigantic them machines really are !!!! Almost prly drive a truck into the bucket of that 6020!!!! 🤩 🤩 🤯
So pleased to see the reclamation after coal mining. I'm interested to know what happens when coal runs out?
Love this video! Awesome perspective and production.
You know what would be a good video series is if you went down to Texas to shoot some videos on the oilfield, wether they are spreading the used mud, or building the pads or actually drilling or fracing the well, with your quality of videos that would be amazing to watch
problem is the oil companies chase us off
@@AaronWitt thats what sucks but thankfully I’ve been an insider on the downstream of things, my dad used to crack and now we own a trucking company hauling crude oil through out Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado and just all over where ever pays the best.
He used to frac*
Great video!
thank you!
Dude your channel is sweet. Keep up the good work. These videos are great quality
Thanks for watching!!
Really cool stuff I bet you put in a lot of time and effort to make this video flawless
thank you very much for watching!
I worked in an open pit mine that was a smaller scale. It's called Pabco Gypsum of Las Vegas and it's the only drywall manufacturer that mines gypsum and puts it straight into the production plant. This is a great video and I love seeing the reclamation process.
That’s awesome
I know this business very well for many years.
Every item used in human endeavor is created by mining. It came from the Earth and not one bit of the current human civilization could exist without mining or utilizing the Earth in some form or another. Mining, farming, fishing, timber all have the Earth in common. Nothing that the Green movement and their prohibitions against all forms of Earth centered endeavor has any legitimate or realistic end in view. In order for people to exist on this planet, the planet is the source and protection is not the answer, management is.
Gotta comment, great video Aaron!
thank you for watching!
Love the vids. It'd be helpful for regular joes if you referenced cubic yards when describing machines... this dragline bucket pulls x yards. For the normal dirt monkey the size of these things is astounding. Keep up the good work.
Gotcha will do thanks John
PA Mining did a live Q&A stream a couple weeks ago and he talked about some of this. It's quite interesting what people don't realise and what other refuse to say on the subject.
I’ll have to look around for that
Damn. These are some good videos
Am I the only one that sees that dragline and wants to drive that thing ! well not drive it but operate it ! it looks like a lot of fun 😁👍 yes I already operated equipment so it's not a huge leap for me obviously I already like operating equipment but still that thing looks awesome 😎👍
they're very neat I'd love to operate one too!!
Well made video, probably wanna turn your music breaks down a bit in volume as we have to keep adjusting our volume. Cheers.
Thanks Dan
Nice video!
Never knew Texas had coal. Being mined and taken directly to the power plant is a definite win for the environment and, yes, the company. Cheaper costs and less transportation pollution.
Aaron awesome video
thank you Robert!!
Aaron your welcome I work for a construction company in new Hampshire in there gravel pit👍
Just throwing my own 2 cents in. I'm currently working on constructing a haul road and clearing for a solar farm on a large gold mine in the southern hemisphere. Keeping it abstract in the interests of being neutral. One of the most notable features is that open pit mining has zero effort towards replacing the dirt. Massive pits are all over the mine, and invariably and obviously, you can see a very large mound of dirt not far from each pit. I'm well aware the coal mining method in this video allows much easier replacement and reprofiling of the landscape than open pit mining does and if pits were to be refilled after mining this would be uneconomically viable in most if not all instances.
that floor cleaner 😍
i loved this bcs it’s not what i thought it was going to be about
thanks for watching
Keep up the good work !
Blue Collar Photography & Eric Jumper are unsung heroes of Build WITT
agreed
You joke but I always though the floor cleaning machines were so cool in the truck shop.
Awesome video
thank you for watching!
Good blokes digging up the mineral , making tha mun , fair play to them
Excellent
Thank you coal for all the good times, but those times are a changin'.
Kress Manufacturing is still in business....Peoria, IL
Coal is the bedrock of modern civilization.
I install exterior trim made from fly ash the stuff is amazing
Yeah, they don’t dig into the mountains of West Virginia as much anymore. Instead they just cut the top off the mountain. But that’s hard coal, not the soft lignite you see in Texas. But when they are finished, those mountains look like Texas because they chopped them all down. It’s not a pretty sight.
First, this channel is great and i just discovered it.
Second, how are coal miners still getting black lung if coal mining isn't what it used to be?
Mostly underground mining, look up "Longwall Mining". All the dust you can stand, and then some.
yep that's all a different type of coal mining. This is surface mining. Thanks for watching!
Let me tell you simple answer for that is people don’t use the protective equipment they’re provided by the company. I’m in this industry i see it everyday. Yesterday another guy he was nearly crushed while lifting the cutting edges by a magnet 🧲. And this was not reported to the management. So don’t blame the companies but we grow up people are a big problem. Don’t expect a safety officer to chase you around to wear a musk or follow the safe procedure of doing a job.
this should be taught in school
So are oil rigging operations or any other Mines held to the same land reclamation standards as coal?
Idk about on shore oil but oil rigs in the gulf get removed to the point that not even a beer can tab is left, when most of the rigs act like an artificial reef down there, in my opinion they should just chop them off 80ft below and leave the rest
yeah it's all really strict these days
wake up turn my swag on
I'm certainly not anti-coal/anti-mining, it's a big part of what got this country to where it is today. It is wonderful that they are doing this, but keep in mind the mining industry was dragged kicking and screaming to the version of the industry that we see today. You need to lose your "big girl" references.
It's powering your Prius!!! Then the battery is disposed in the same method as atomic waste!