Water-powered winch for lifting ore, 1734.

Copper engraving of a hoisting mechanism invented by Swedish inventor and engineer Christopher Polhem (1661-1751), teacher of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772). Polhem installed the BlankstOt hoist at the Stora Kopparberg Mine in 1693. It was his first major succes in mining technology and was used to hoist copper ore from the mine using buckets advancing along alternately reciprocating hanging beams, remaining in service for over 40 years. Van Vianen called it the 'Machina nova' (New machine) and it became known by this name internationally. Illustration from Swedenborg's 'Regnum Subterraneum sive Minerale de Cupro et Orichalco' (The Subterranean or Mineral Kingdom in respect to Copper and Bras), published in Dresden in 1734.