A headframe is the prominent steel, timber, or concrete tower built directly over a vertical mine shaft. It houses the sheave wheels that guide the hoist ropes down into the shaft to raise and lower cages and skips. The structure must be engineered to withstand the massive dynamic loads and vibrations generated by hoisting tons of ore and personnel at high speeds.
The new hoist ropes are being spooled onto the drum and threaded up through the headframe.
The height of a headframe is dictated by the hoisting speed and the clearance needed to dump skips into the surface bins.
Also heard as
- gallows frame
- poppet head
- winding tower
Related terms
Cage
The primary elevator car used in vertical mine shafts.
Skip
A guided hoist container used to lift ore or waste rock out of a mine shaft.
Hoistman
The operator responsible for running the winding engine that raises and lowers cages in a mine shaft.
Winder
A heavy-duty winch or engine used to raise and lower cages and skips in a mine shaft.
Heapstead
The surface structure around a mine shaft that supports the screening and loading of coal.