Explain what happens in the winding house of a mine: Mini PAT.

Part 1: The winch or hoist is in a winding house. This part of the system is used to wind or unwind the steel cable.

• The hoist is attached to a motor and a control system.
• The mine cage and the skips are lowered into the mine when a steel cable unwinds from the winch.
• The mine cage and skips are raised when the steel cable winds up again.

Part 2: The sheave wheel is a pulley wheel that sits above the mine shaft. The hoist cable passes over the sheave wheel and then down the shaft of the mine.

The sheave wheel reduces the sliding friction of the mine cable.

Part 3: The head frame is the structure that supports the sheave wheel. It must be strong enough to keep the sheave wheel in place when it lifts the heavy mine cage.

The left “legs” of the head frame slope towards the hoist. This is due to the tension in the cable pulling the whole frame in that direction. The sloping legs prevent the head frame from toppling or falling over.

Part 4: The cage and skips. The cage is used to transport miners and equipment up and down the mine. Attached alongside or underneath the cage are skips.

Skips are used to bring the ore and the waste rock out of the mine.