Mining

Title: Photograph of a Steam Shovel
Type: Photograph
Date: 1897
Source: Minnesota Historical Society

Description: This photo was found in a book called Methods of Iron Mining.

Activities:

1. What are the advantages of using a steam shovel over using human workers?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: It would take many people to equal the amount of power and speed that could be had by digging with a steam shovel.
2. Fewer human diggers would be needed, but what other jobs might be created by using a steam shovel?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: Workers would be needed to operate the shovel, to keep its boiler running, and to repair and maintain it. Steam shovels took away some jobs but created new ones.
3. Would a steam shovel be of any use underground? Why or why not?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: Steam shovels require too much space to move around underground, plus moving an 80-ton machine up and down the shafts would thave been very difficult and dangerous, if not impossible.
4. What effect would adding more steam shovels to an open-pit mine have?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: The mine could produce more ore faster, but this would also require more people to work with the ore and would require trains to run more often to transport the ore.