Mine Cutting and Channeling Machine Operators
Architecture & Construction > ConstructionProjected Growth: Little or no change
Projected Job Openings
Some Preparation Needed
Job Description
Your job is to Operate machinery such as longwall shears, plows, and cutting machines to cut or channel along the face or seams of coal mines, stone quarries, or other mining surfaces to facilitate blasting, separating, or removing minerals or materials from mines or from the Earth’s surface. Includes shale planers.
Common job titles of Mine Cutting and Channeling Machine Operators include:
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Experience and Education
Some previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is usually needed. For example, a teller would benefit from experience working directly with the public.
60.32% said they needed a High School Diploma.
27.39% said they needed a Less than a High School Diploma.
Tasks
Cut entries between rooms and haulage ways.
Move controls to start and position drill cutters or torches and advance tools into mines or quarry faces to complete horizontal or vertical cuts.
Cut slots along working faces of coal, salt, or other non-metal deposits to facilitate blasting, by moving levers to start the machine, and to control the vertical reciprocating drills.
Advance plow blades through coal strata by remote control, according to electronic or radio signals from the tailer.
Signal crew members to adjust the speed of equipment to the rate of installation of roof supports, and to adjust the speed of conveyors to the volume of coal.
Signal that machine plow blades are properly positioned, using electronic buzzers or two-way radios.
Replace worn or broken tools and machine bits and parts, using wrenches, pry bars, and other hand tools, and lubricate machines, using grease guns.
Observe indicator lights and gauges, and listen to machine operation to detect binding or stoppage of tools or other equipment problems.
Reposition machines and move controls to make additional holes or cuts.
Position jacks, timbers, or roof supports, and install casings, to prevent cave-ins.
Press buttons to activate conveyor belts, and push or pull chain handles to regulate conveyor movement so that material can be moved or loaded into dinkey cars or dump trucks.
Drive mobile, truck-mounted, or track-mounted drilling or cutting machine in mines and quarries or on construction sites.
Move planer levers to control and adjust the movement of equipment, the speed, height, and depth of cuts, and to rotate swivel cutting booms.
Remove debris such as loose shale from channels and planer travel areas.
Determine locations, boundaries, and depths of holes or channels to be cut.
Monitor movement of shale along conveyors from hoppers to trucks or railcars.
Signal truck drivers to position their vehicles for receiving shale from planer hoppers.
Cut and move shale from open pits.
Free jams in planer hoppers, using metal pinch bars.
Charge and set off explosives in blasting holes.
Guide and assist crews in laying track for machines and resetting planer rails, supports, and blocking, using jacks, shovels, sledges, picks, and pinch bars.
Tools
Ultrasonic anemometers
Tunneling machines
Tractor drills
Shuttle cars
Self-rescuers
Screw jacks
Scissor bolters
All ToolsRock drilling machines
Roadheaders
Raise bores
Pry bars
Protective goggles
Protective ear muffs
Power shovels
Portable hand grinders
Pinch bars
Personal computers
Mobile radios
Mining shovels
Mining picks
Mining bulldozers
Miner’s helmets
Mine conveyor belts
Methane monitors
Lube guns
Longwall shears
Jaw crushing equipment
Jackhammers
Integrated air velocity monitors
Hydraulic jacks
Heavy dump trucks
Grinding mills
Electric chainsaws
Detonation units
Cutting torches
Cutting machines
Crowbars
Continuous miners
Cone crushing equipment
Channeling machines
Burning bars
Atmospheric monitors
Armored face conveyors
Adjustable combination wrenches
Technologies
Joy Mining Machinery JOY FACEBOSS
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Analysis of Longwall Pillar Stability ALPS
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Analysis of Roof Bolt Systems ARBS
Skills
Operation Monitoring
Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
Critical Thinking
Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
Active Listening
Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Operation and Control
Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
Monitoring
Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Speaking
Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Social Perceptiveness
Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Coordination
Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Equipment Maintenance
Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
Troubleshooting
Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
Repairing
Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.
Quality Control Analysis
Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
Judgment and Decision Making
Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Time Management
Managing one's own time and the time of others.
Abilities
Quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
Control Movement Abilities › Psychomotor Abilities › Control Precision