A nether is a structural break or displacement in the strata that interrupts the path of a coal seam. When miners hit this type of fault, the coal face abruptly ends against barren rock, forcing the crew to drill through dead ground to locate the displaced seam. It causes delays and increases the cost of extraction.
Heard on the job
We hit a nether on the east heading and had to drive through solid rock for twenty feet to find the coal again.
Insider tip
Historic colliery records often list these disruptions simply as troubles because they meant unpaid, unproductive digging for the crews.
Also heard as
- trouble