Drift mining

Drift mining is a way of mining where tunnels are dug horizontally. It was used by the coal industry in the 1700s. It would follow a coal seam into a hillside. It was not very safe which is why it wasn't used much. It was not safe because water could easily get in.

Drift Mining Media

Coal miner standing in a drift portal at Fork Mountain, Tennessee, 1920.
Drift mine entry in West Virginia, 1908. Photo by Lewis Hine.
Profile of hillseam occurrence

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