About Cold, Dank Mines

This is the 21st century. Yet mine owners all over the globe send men to mine pretty much as if we were in the early 20th.
Bucyrus and Merrin have a "walking dragline" that digs up to 3,000 feet deep. It is a matter of retraining the miners to run the equipment, build the roads and drive the trucks. It is a thousand-fold safer than current mining methods.
The biggest drawback is the cost to the mine owners. Apparently, it is a cost they are not willing to bear. So much easier to let the miners and their families bear the ultimate cost.
'Nuff said.