shaken
Of something mined such as coal or ore: broken into pieces.
shaken: ore broken by blasting or mechanical force
Shaken ore or coal has been fractured into smaller pieces by controlled blasting, mechanical breakage, or the stress of extraction itself. The goal is not powder or fine dust, but fragments sized for the next stage of processing, loading, or transport. A shaken ore body typically ranges from fist-sized chunks down to gravel, depending on the deposit and the extraction method used.
The term reflects the physical reality of how rock behaves under sudden stress. Explosives or impact tools apply energy that propagates through the rock mass, breaking along natural fracture planes and grain boundaries. The result is irregular, angular fragments rather than the smooth surfaces you might see from a saw cut. Shaken material distinguishes itself from crushed ore (which is deliberately pulverized) and from in-situ rock (which has not yet been separated from the surrounding formation).
Underground mines achieve shaken conditions through blast loading: charges placed in boreholes fracture the surrounding rock in a controlled zone. Open pit operations use similar methods, though larger charge patterns and longer hole spacing spread the energy over wider areas. Surface shaking can also occur from subsidence, vibration during machinery operation, or even spontaneous relaxation as pressure is removed from deeper strata.
In coal mining, shaken coal comes away from the seam face after undercutting and blasting, creating the loose material that falls into collection systems. Quality control matters here because oversized fragments jam conveyors and screening plants, while excessive fines (powder) contaminate the product and create dust hazards. The degree of shakiness affects both the speed and cost of downstream handling.
The word itself is straightforward: something has been shaken loose. It appears in pit records, haulage specifications, and comminution plant requirements, always as a descriptor of state rather than a process name. Workers distinguish between shaken material ready to load, partially shaken deposits that need further work, and stuck material that resists breakage despite blasting effort.