The two major developments in shaft sinking between 2007 and 2020 are the successes in mechanical excavation and the number of shafts sunk in China. 

During the 1970 to 2007 time period, there were a number of changes to traditional shaft sinking systems, both in Canada and in other countries around the world. 

The period between 1940 and 1970 can really be called the golden age of shaft sinking. 

Mine shafts sunk during 1900 to 1940 in North America were almost all rectangular, timbered shafts while in Europe nearly all were circular and lined with brickwork or concrete.

British owned mining operations recruited their skilled labour from Cornwall and by the mid-1820s, Cornish miners, or “Cousin Jacks” as they were called, were to be found all across Latin America sinking shafts and developing mines.

The evolution of shaft sinking systems in the Western world and the improvement in sinking rates: A seven-part series brought to you by CIM Magazine