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fire rib

S. Staff. A solid rib or wall of coal left between workings to confine gob
fires. Fay

fire runner

In bituminous coal mining, a person who enters a mine immediately after
blasting to search for any fires that might have been started by a blast.
Also called shotfirer runner; shot runner. DOT

fire sand

a. Refractory oxide or carbide used for furnace linings. Bennett
b. A sand so free from fluxes that it is highly refractory.
See also:foundry sand

fire seal

A strip across an area through which neither fire nor noxious gases can
penetrate. It involves not only sealing of stopes but levels also.
Syn:sealing

fire setting

An ancient method of tunneling through rock. A fire was built against the
face of the mineral, which was then quenched with water, thus causing
cracking. Pryor, 3

fire stink

The smell given off when heating or spontaneous combustion occurs in the
waste or elsewhere underground. Nelson

firestone

a. Any fine-grained siliceous stone formerly used for striking fire;
specif. flint. Syn:feverstein
b. A nodule of pyrite formerly used for striking fire. AGI
c. A fine-grained siliceous rock that can resist or endure high heat and
is used for lining furnaces and kilns, such as certain Cretaceous and
Jurassic sandstones in southern England. See also:fireclay
d. In a slag hearth, a plate of iron covering the front of the furnace
except for a few inches of space between it and the bedplate.
e. Quartz in which cracks have been artificially produced by heating to
create diffraction colors. Syn:iris quartz

fire styth

See:fire stink

fire up

A command to start operating a drill either to collar a borehole or to
restart work on the first working shift of a day. Long

firing

a. The igniting of an explosive charge.
b. Starting up a furnace or kiln.
c. The process of initiating the action of an explosive charge or the
operation of a mechanism that results in a blasting action.

firing a mine

Eng. Maliciously setting fire to a coal mine. Fay

firing cable

See:shot-firing cable

firing circuit

See:shot-firing circuit

firing current

An electric current of recommended magnitude and duration to sufficiently
energize an electric detonator or a circuit of electric detonators.
Atlas

firing expansion

The increase in size that sometimes occurs when a refractory raw material
or product is fired; it is usually expressed as a linear percentage
expansion from the dry to the fired state. Firing expansion can be caused
by a crystalline conversion (e.g., of quartz into cristobalite, or of
kyanite into mullite plus cristobalite), or by bloating.

firing impulse

As applied to electric blasting caps, the minimum impulse of current
required to fire a detonator. Fraenkel

firing key

A special key that fits the exploder used in electric firing of blasting
charges; carried by authorized shot firer. Pryor, 3

firing line

Scot. An appliance used in former times for clearing a room of combustible
gases. A prop was being set up near the face, a ring was fixed in it near
the roof, and a cord or wire was passed through the ring. Attaching a lamp
to one end of the cord, the miner withdrew to a distance, and by pulling
the cord raised the lamp to the height necessary to explode the
accumulated combustible gases. Fay

firing machine

a. A designation for an electric blasting machine. Fay
b. An apparatus for feeding a boiler furnace with coal. A mechanical
stoker. Fay

firing point

Eng. The point or mixture at which combustible gases mixed with
atmospheric air explodes. The percentages of gas vary from 6% to 13%, with
the maximum explosibility at about 11%. Fay

firmament stone

See:precious opal