Mining Glossary

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G

Gassy - A coal mine is rated gassy by the U.S. Bureau of Mines if an ignition occurs or if a methane content exceeding 0.25 percent can be detected, and work must be halted if the methane exceeds 1.5 percent in a return airway.

Gather - To assemble loaded cars from several production points and deliver them to main haulage for transport to the surface or pit bottom.

Gathering Locomotive - A lightweight type of electric locomotive used to haul loaded cars from the working places to the main haulage road, and to replace them with empties.

Gob - To store underground, as along one side of a working place, the rock and refuse encountered in mining. The material so packed or stored underground. The space left by the extraction of a coal seam into which waste is packed. Also called goaf.

Gob Pile - A pile or heap of mine refuse on the surface. An accumulation of waste material such as rock or bone.

Gross Ton - The long ton of 2,240 avoirdupois pounds.

Ground Water - Water at, and below, the water table; basal or bottom water; phreatic water. Used also in a broad sense to mean all water below the ground surface. Water derived from wells or springs, not surface water from lakes or streams.

Gunite - A mixture of sand and cement, sprayed with a pressure gun onto roofs and ribs to act as a sealing agent to prevent erosion by air and moisture.