Meet the coal mining machine that never sleeps

Deep below the earth’s surface, a curious, flat, snake-like machine is busy slicing its way through low and narrow coal seams.It’s longer than a bus, barely the height of a tennis racket, and rarely needs to stop as it leaves behind vast underground caverns supported by pillars of coal and rock.Known as the GE Fairchild F330, it’s one of just a few continuous mining machines that can selectively target these narrow seams to extract high quality coal between soft, sedimentary rock.With each swing of its unique double helix shearers coal is extracted from the mine wall and automatically channelled onto a conveyor belt that carries it directly to the surface.Not only does this continuous system make mining more productive, the shearers are perfectly designed to minimise coal dust to create a cleaner, safer environment for miners.