A dedicated room containing the large winch, motors, braking systems, and control consoles used to raise and lower cages and skips in a mine shaft. It is the mechanical heart of the shaft infrastructure, usually located on the surface near the headframe, but sometimes sited underground in deep or blind shafts. Hoistrooms are heavily regulated and restricted areas due to the critical safety function of the winding gear.
Maintenance is scheduled for the main hoistroom, so the production shaft will be locked out for the next four hours.
Operators in the hoistroom rely entirely on signals and depth indicators, as they cannot physically see the cage moving in the shaft.
Also heard as
- winder house
Related terms
Headframe
The structural frame above an underground mine shaft that supports the hoisting mechanism.
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.
Winder
A heavy-duty winch or engine used to raise and lower cages and skips in a mine shaft.