Crosscut

A level driven horizontally across barren country rock at an angle to a lode or seam's strike, deliberately cutting through ground with no ore in it — the opposite approach to a level or drift, which follow the ore itself.

Historical usage

Crosscutting was standard practice wherever a mine's ground held several roughly parallel lodes or seams: rather than sinking a separate shaft to reach each one, a single crosscut driven from an existing shaft or level could intersect several veins in turn, each one then worked outward along its own strike by ordinary levels.

How it worked

Because a crosscut was driven through solid rock rather than exploiting a natural weakness like a vein, progress relied entirely on the miners' survey lines rather than any visible guide underground — the drive's whole purpose was only realised once it finally broke into the lode or seam it had been aimed at.

Why it was used

A single crosscut reaching several parallel veins from one shaft and haulage system was far cheaper than sinking and equipping a new shaft on every lode, making it the standard way of exploiting ground with more than one vein close together.

Risks & limitations

Crosscutting meant driving blind through unproductive rock with no ore to offset the cost of the work, making it one of the most expensive forms of underground development per fathom — undertaken only where survey and geological judgement gave real confidence that a lode lay within reach.

Regional variation

A general underground-mining technique rather than a regionally distinctive one, used wherever multiple parallel veins or seams needed to be reached from shared shaft and haulage infrastructure.

Sources

1. (secondary) Definition of crosscut — Mindat
2. (secondary) Mining - Horizontal openings: drifts — Encyclopaedia Britannica

Record created: 22 August 2026 · Last researched: 22 August 2026