Description

Bucket -wheel excavators run on tracks at the Tagebau Hambach open pit mine in Etzweiler, Germany. These massive vehicles – considered to be the largest land machines in the world at 315 feet (96 meters) tall and 730 feet (223 meters) long – continuously scoop materials from the surface in order to extract lignite. Lignite, often referred to as ‘brown coal’, is a soft, combustible sedimentary rock that is formed from naturally compressed peat and is used as a fuel for steam-electric power generation.