Highwall mining system with driven conveyor units

A highwall mining system for mining aggregate material from a seam comprising:

• (a) a mining means for cutting aggregate material from the seam and thereby forming a drive in the seam;
• (b) a conveying means for conveying mined aggregate material from the drive, the conveying means comprising a plurality of modular conveyor units having a means for releasably coupling together the conveyor units, the coupling means comprising a male member and a complementary female member connected to the conveyor units such that the male member of one conveyor unit can be received in the female member of an adjacent conveyor unit to couple together the conveyor units, each conveyor unit comprising a wheel assembly, and each male member being coupled to an associated conveyor unit for pivotal movement about a horizontal axis of the conveyor unit that is coincident with an axis of the wheel assembly;
• and
• (c) a driving means for driving the mining means and the conveying means into the seam to form the drive.

A highwall mining system for mining aggregate material from a seam comprising:

• (a) a mining means for cutting aggregate material from the seam and thereby forming a drive in the seam;
• (b) a conveying means for conveying mined aggregate material from the drive, the conveying means comprising a plurality of modular conveyor units having a means for releasably coupling together the conveyor units, the coupling means comprising a male member and a complementary female member connected to the conveyor units such that the male member of one conveyor unit can be received in the female member of an adjacent conveyor unit to couple together the conveyor units, each male member being coupled to an associated conveyor unit for pivotal movement about a horizontal axis of the conveyor unit, each male member and each female member comprising cut-out sections that are arranged so that when the male member of one conveyor unit is received in the female member of an adjacent conveyor unit the cut-out sections form an opening that is transverse to the longitudinal direction of the conveying means;
• and
• (c) a driving means for driving the mining means and the conveying means into the seam to form the drive.