Shaft Bottom

a complex of underground mine workings excavated near a mine shaft. The shaft bottom consists of extensive main arteries that provide a transport link between the shafts and the main roadways and airways of the mine, and chambers used for various production purposes. The shaft bottom workings are used for receiving and processing loads entering the airway or haulage levels from the mine or from the surface. They are also used for the movement of personnel, the ventilation of mine workings, and the conveyance of loads and miners to the working faces. Shaft bottoms may be circular, looped, or of the shuttle type, depending on how they abut on the main roadways and on how the transport system is arranged.