煤矿
méi kuàng · HSK 7
coal mine
⛏️ 煤 (coal) + 矿 (ore deposit / mine) = coal mine
煤 méi means coal; 矿 kuàng means an ore deposit or mine. Together they name the place coal is dug out. The 石 stone radical in 矿 marks it as something mineral pulled from rock.
煤 — fire radical 火 + 某 (méi, phonetic)
煤 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The fire radical 火 signals the meaning (something that burns), while 某 supplies the sound 'méi'. Originally referring to soot or charcoal residue, the character later came to mean coal once that fuel became widely used.
矿 — stone radical 石 + 广 phonetic
矿 is the simplified form of 礦. The 石 (stone) radical signals the meaning—rocks and minerals dug from the earth—while 广 serves as a simplified phonetic component. Originally it referred to raw ore, and by extension came to mean a mine or mineral deposit.