In mining, based on historical practices described, a breaker was a person responsible for breaking down large lumps of coal.
The Role of Breakers
Historically, the term "breaker" referred specifically to the individuals who performed the initial processing step on mined coal.
According to historical accounts:
- Lumps of coal were placed on plates made of perforated cast iron.
- Men known as "breakers" would use hammers to strike the coal.
- Their goal was to reduce the size of the coal lumps until they were small enough to fall through the holes in the plates.
This process was a fundamental part of preparing coal for further sorting and distribution. After passing through the initial screen hammered by the breakers, the coal would then go through a second screen where it was shaken and sorted by size, often using various power sources like hand, animal, steam, or water.
Essentially, breakers were the manual labor force tasked with the crucial first step of size reduction in the coal preparation process before mechanical methods became widespread.
