Highwall Mining in the Heart of Appalachia
WEBNov 28, 2011 · Highwall Mining Evolves. From the bridge of the highwall miner, an operator advances a cutterhead, or an unmanned cutter module, into an exposed coal seam. The machine rests on crawler tracks on the bench below the highwall. Coal is extracted in parallel rectangular (the width of the cutterhead) entries spaced at various intervals.