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By Russell C. Frith

This paper examines the design of longwall shields, focusing on those aspects that are critical to either their successful application or contribution to failure during longwall extraction. In many instances, longwall shields are assessed and designed along lines similar to that of roadway ground support systems, namely according to typical or normal geotechnical conditions. However it will be contended that for longwall shields, this is inappropriate because unlike roadway ground support systems, longwall shields cannot be supplemented with additional or secondary support in localised areas of adverse geotechnical conditions. In other words, the longwall shield needs to be designed according to what are judged to be worst case or adverse geotechnical conditions?the outcome being that a well-designed shield will be significantly over-rated for the majority of its working life. Therefore, it will be argued that the additional capital cost of such shield design can be readily justified as a prudent riskbased outcome that is essential to minimising future business risks due to strata instability on the longwall face. Shield geometry will be discussed, including such relevant factors as leg angle, inclination of the top caving shield, canopy ratio, operating height range, and tip to face distance. These are all well-established longwall shield design considerations and, most importantly, areas whereby inadequate design can render a longwall shield as highly ineffective. The issue of tip to face distance will be considered in detail, in particular, the extent by which it is an important geotechnical design consideration, the conclusion being reached that, in fact, it is not. The critical importance of maximising set to yield ratio within practical operating limits will be justified, the wisdom of this having been subject to questioning in more recent technical literature. Overall, the aim is to provide the industry with a set of suggested guidelines for future use when designing longwall shields and, hopefully, to initiate discussion on a subject that, unlike roadway ground support design, is not well covered in its entirety in the published technical literature.

Jan 1, 2013

By James D. Pile

Following a methane ignition in the active panel of a longwall coal mine, the affected panel was successfully isolated from the rest of the mine. This allowed for the remainder of the mine to return to regular operation, and the conventional practice of having to seal the portals for a defined period of time was avoided. After the affected panel had remained isolated for a regulatorily mandated period of time, it was reopened in preparation for longwall face recovery. As it was not possible to move the shields from their existing positions to facilitate the installation of recovery mesh prior to shield recovery, alternative methods had to be considered to stabilise the gob and minimise flushing, thereby improving operator safety. The objective of the paper is to show how stabilisation of the gob was achieved during shield recovery, thereby minimising flushing, and improving operator safety. Phenolic foam was chosen and injected from between the shields into the gob behind them. This is a technique that has been used to great effect in Germany, to a lesser extent in Australia, but not knowingly to date in the United States. To ensure nothing was left to chance and thereby guarantee the project?s success, the procedure used in Germany was employed, down to the application of equivalent hardware, which was sourced through the North American supplier.

Jan 1, 2013

By Timothy Batchler

"Pumpable roof supports are currently being used to provide a safe working environment for longwall mining. Because different pumpable supports are visually similar and installed fundamentally in the same manner as other supports, there is a tendency to believe they all perform the same way. However, there are several design parameters that can affect their performance, including the cementitious material properties and the bag construction practices that influence the degree of confinement provided. A full understanding of the impact of these design parameters is necessary to optimize the support application and to provide a foundation for making further improvements in the support performance.This paper evaluates the impact of various support design parameters by examining full-scale performance tests conducted using the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Mine Roof Simulator (MRS) as part of manufactures' developmental and quality control testing. These tests were analyzed to identify correlations between the support design parameters and the resulting performance. Based on more than 160 tests over 7 years, quantifiable patterns were examined to assess the correlation between the support dimensions, cementitious material type, wire pitch, and single-wall vs dual-walled bag designs to the support capacity, stiffuess, load shedding events, and yield characteristics.INTRODUCTIONDeveloped in the 1990s, the first major use of pumpable supports systems in U.S. longwall operations was in the support of bleeder entries (Barczak, Tadolini, 2008). Since then, they have been utilized as yieldable concrete supports to provide a safe working environment for longwall mining gateroads, bleeders, and emergency escapeways while also maintaining adequate ventilation pathways. The basic structure of pumpable roof supports has remained unchanged over the years. Formed in place with a twopart fast-setting grout, the support material can be pumped into a containment bag from several thousand feet away often through surface boreholes. The containment bag then acts as a form to fill the support and provides confinement to the grout during loading and after failure. Pumpable roof supports provide full contact with the mine roof and floor, which eliminates the need for secondary material to establish proper roof contact (see Figure 1). They provide a high peak load capacity and a sustained, confinement controlled yield behavior while maintaining stable ground conditions, which is essential to underground mining operations."

Jan 1, 2016

By Hongwei Wang, Hao Zhang, Panshi Xie, Xicai Gao, Youfu Zeng, Yongping Wu, Juan Dou

"The reserves and production of steep coal seams account for approximately 15–20% of the total coal reserves in China and 5–10% of the total annual coal production. More than 50% of the coal is high-quality coking coal and anthracite, based on reviews of steeply dipping seam mining at home and abroad. Fully mechanized mining is considered to be the only safe and efficient way to mine steeply dipping seams. To achieve fully mechanized longwall mining, four issues must be addressed: ground control, equipment stability control, development of complete sets of equipment, and safety. Engineers must focus on many factors of steeply dipping seams, such as the following: stope, roof asymmetrical structure, stability control, “roof-support-floor” system dynamics control, multi-region big-range ground control technology, adjustment false-inclined method, nonlinear layout method, control technology, safety, and development of complete sets of equipment. Engineering practices in China introduce these concepts systematically: fully mechanized mining of medium-thickness seams, fully mechanized high mining of thick seams, fully mechanized caving of extremely thick coal seams, fully mechanized mining of coal seams, roadway support, and so on. A steeply dipping seam is one with a dipping angle in the range of 35°–55°. This accounts for about 15%–20% of the total coal reserves in China. Because of the environment, more than 50% of the coal is high-quality coking coal and anthracite. Mining steeply dipping coal seams is known to be difficult in the mining industry. After the study conducted by Germany, Poland, and the former Soviet Union in the1970s–1980s, the fully mechanized mining basic theory, core technology, and key equipment research have not been a breakthrough. Being fully mechanized is a technological “restricted area” at home and abroad. A lot of steeply dipping seams are excavated by non-mechanized mining, leading to harsh job environments, labor-intensive work, low productivity, frequent accidents, and significant security hazards. The death rate per million tons of coal reaches above 4.0 and is far higher than slow inclined coal seam mining. Making steeply dipping seam mining safe and efficient is a global problem that urgently needs to be solved. Fully mechanized mining is the only way to overcome these problems (Wu, 2003; Wu, Yun, and Zhou, 2000). The realization of fully mechanized coal seam mining must solve four problems. (1) Examine the disaster mechanisms induced by overburden “key strata” mutation under steeply dipping seams as a basis for ground control methods and technical problems. (2) Work to solve the dynamic stability control technical problems of thousands of tons of complete sets of equipment under the steeply dipping seams. (3) Complete sets of equipment must be developed to adapt to the conditions of steeply dipping seams. (4) Overcome the steeply dipping face safety protection technical problems. In the last two decades, a number of universities, research institutes, and enterprises have realized the importance of safety and efficiency of steeply dipping seams in China. This is especially true of Professor Wu Yongping’s “hard coal layer safe and efficient mining” team at Xi’an University of Science and Technology. After several generations’ research and technical work, the team puts forward China’s longwall mechanized coal mining of steeply dipping seams strata control basic theory. This paper puts forth a series of key technologies of fully mechanized mining, develops and manufactures complete sets of equipment by independent innovation, and establishes a perfect face security system, forming a theory and technology system for fully mechanized longwall mining of steeply dipping seams."

Jan 1, 2017

By Pierre-Yves Declercq, Andre Vervoort

"After the mass closures of entire coal mine districts in Europe at the end of the last century, a new phenomenon of surface movement was observed—an upward movement. Although most surface movement (i.e., subsidence) occurs in the months and years after mining by the longwall method, surface movement still occurs many decades after mining is terminated. After the closure and flooding of underground excavations and surrounding rock, this movement is reversed. This paper focuses on quantifying the upward movement in two neighboring coal mines (Winterslag and Zwartberg, Belgium). The study is based on data from a remote sensing technique: interferometry with synthetic aperture radar (INSAR). The results of the study show that the rate of upward movement in the decade after closure is about 10 mm/year on average. The upward movements are not linked directly to the past exploitation directly underneath a location. The amounts of subsidence at specific locations are linked mainly to their positions relative to an inverse trough shape situated over the entire mined-out areas and their immediate surroundings. Local features, such as geological faults, can have a secondary effect on the local variation of the uplift. The processes of subsidence and uplift are based on completely different mechanisms. Subsidence is initiated by a caving process, while the process of uplift is clearly linked to flooding. INTRODUCTION After the mass closures of entire coal mine districts in Europe at the end of the last century, a new phenomenon of surface movement was observed—upward movement in the area above the past exploitation and in the immediate surroundings. Of course, most surface movement (i.e., subsidence) occurs in the months and years after mining by the longwall method (Peng, 1986). This downward movement continues to occur at a smaller rate many decades after mining has been terminated when the water in the underground excavations is pumped to the surface. This is the case as long as a mine is in operation. However, after the closure and flooding of the underground excavations and the surrounding rock, this movement is reversed, and the surface is uplifted. A total uplift of about half a meter has been recorded to date. This phenomenon has been described in several different coal basins in Europe, for example, in Belgium (Devleeschouwer et al., 2008), France (Samsonov, d’Oreye, and Smets, 2013), Germany (Baglikow, 2011), the Netherlands (Caro Cuenca, Hooper, and Hanssen, 2013), and Poland (Preusse, Kateloe, and Sroka, 2013). To date, research has focused mainly on understanding the phenomenon (e.g., Herrero et al., 2012) and identifying general trends, whereby the link with the rise in water levels is an important issue (Caro Cuenca, Hooper, and Hanssen, 2013). The most accepted explanation is linked to the swelling of clay minerals in the argillaceous rocks in the coal strata (Herrero et al., 2012). Without doubt, the full explanation is complex, and swelling is probably not the only cause of the residual movement. Most coal strata rock is weakened upon contact with water. The increase in water pressure also results in a decrease in the effective stress. Both aspects facilitate the fracturing of rock, which normally would result in further subsidence. However, decreases in the effective stresses also result in the relaxation or expansion of the rock, which induces an upward movement (Fjar et al., 2008). All of these aspects, including the long-term residual subsidence due to compaction under dry conditions, result in a net upward movement. The phenomenon discussed here is clearly different from the upsidence, sometimes observed on other continents (e.g., in Australia, Galvin, 2016). When upsidence occurs, the rock near the surface bends and buckles upwards due to the overstressing of the floors of the valleys."

Jan 1, 2017

By Gamal Rashed

Coal bump is a sudden manifestation of the release of strain energy stored in a coal pillar (Peng, 2008). It is a very serious mining hazard that adversely affects the safety and productivity of the mines. Several case histories in mining have described coal pillars or faces of coal failing violently with an accompanying ejection of debris and broken material into the working areas of the mine (Campoli, 1987; Osterwald, 1962; Peperakis, 1958; Garvey and Ozbay, 2013). These failures resulted in large losses of life and total collapses of entire mine panels (Chase, Zipf, and Mark, 1994; Zingano, Koppe, and Costa, 2004). There are questions in the literature about whether or not the coal itself plays a significant role in bump. Rice (1935) mentioned that structurally strong coal is one of the key factors for bump; however, the strength of the Pocahontas #3 coal seam is low, and it bumped. Moreover, it is not obvious in the literature whether the strength of the tested coal samples is the inherent strength or if it is influenced by the shape or the size of the specimen. The main objective of this paper is to answer the following question: To what extent does the mechanical properties of the coal have an impact on the potential for violent failure? The best approach to answer this question is to compare the mechanical properties of two kinds of coals from bump-prone (Utah coal-Sunnyside seam) and non-bump-prone (WV coal-Sewickley seam). This comparison includes uniaxial compressive strength, modulus of elasticity, shear strength (cohesion and friction angle), and the burst index.

Jan 1, 2014

By Dongfeng Yun, Zhu Liu, Wendong Cheng, Zhendong Fan, Dongfang Wang, Yuanhao Zhang

"For the purpose of studying the strata behavior due to multislicing top coal caving longwall mining along-the-strike direction in steeply dipping extra thick coal seams, the shield support pressures of the upper and lower slices of Panel 37220 in Dongxia coal mine were monitored using the KJ513 dynamic monitoring system. The set up rooms adopted the ""horizontal line-arc segmentinclined line"" form and used different types of shield supports. The results showed that the strata pressure of upper slice Panel 37220- 1 changed slightly along the strike direction, while along the dip direction it exhibited strong to weak pressure from bottom to top. The first weighting interval oflower slice Panel 37220-2 was about 60.Sm, and the average periodic weighting interval were about 22.6m. The strata behavior of Panel 37330-2 exhibited a spatiotemporal characteristic in that periodic weighting occurred first in the middle-upper part, followed by the middle and upper parts, arc segment, and finally the lower part. During the periodic weighting, the weighting interval and intensity also exhibited strong space characteristics. The average dynamic load coefficient was 1.48 and the maximum lateral pressure of the side shield was 900Kn1000kN.INTRODUCTIONThe steeply dipping coal seams account for about 20% of proven reserves and 10% of output in China (Wu, et al, 2014). About 50% of coal mines in the western China have steeply dipping seams, and are mainly distributed in Sichuan, Gansu, and Chongqing. When the steeply dipping seam employs longwall mining along the strike direction is employed, the waste rocks fill the gob nonhomogeneously along the dip direction, the deformation and caving of surrounding rocks exhibit obvious asymmetry and spatio-temporal characteristics with particular and complex strata behavior. In recent years, many research on strata behavior due to multi-slicing top coal caving longwall mining along-the-strike direction in steeply dipping extra thick coal seams have been performed with significant results (Shi, 1999; Wu, Xie, and Ren, 2010; Wu, Xie, Wang, and Ren, 2010). However, there has been a complete lack of research on monitoring the strata behavior due to multi-slicing top coal caving longwall mining in steeply dipping extra thick coal seam. Therefore, the strata behavior of multi-slicing panels 37220-1 and 37220-2 was systematically investigated in this research."

Jan 1, 2016

By David W. Evans

"Induced hydraulic fracture of strata during roof bolt installation is a potentially prevalent, but masked phenomenon within the underground coal industry. Previously reported resin testing programs (McTyer et al., 2014) examined the relationship between resin mixing effectiveness and varying bore hole diameter. The methodology employed within this earlier test program facilitated a further critical area of research – the measurement of back pressures generated within the bore hole during standard rock bolt installation practices. Experimental data has indicated that fluid resin can be pressurised to levels where it exceeds the compressive strength of the strata, inducing hydraulic fracture within the immediate area of the bolting horizon. The routine cycle of roof bolting serves to propagate this effect, progressively fracturing and delaminating the roof during mine advancement. This masked phenomenon can lead to a perception of difficult ground conditions - mining efficiencies and costs are therefore affected, with increased needs for additional support subsequently required to restabilise the inadvertently damaged roof.Further analysis of the parameters associated with resin bolt installation has now been conducted, assisting in the development of an empirical relationship between bore hole pressure, bore hole diameter and bolt insertion times. This relationship has been analysed for 15:1 ratio resins and 2:1 ratioresins, within 28mm and 30mm boreholes. Further to this, load transfer performance has been comparatively assessed for both 28mm and 30mm boreholes, suggesting that for 2:1 resins, acceptable resin mixing and load transfer can be obtained within a 30mm bore hole. The combination of 2:1 resins, utilised within a 30mm bore hole, may well provide the optimal solution to reduce the risk of hydraulic fracture in weaker strata during resin bolt installation.INTRODUCTIONA growing number of industry papers have previously investigated areas of concern associated with the performance of cartridge style resins in roof bolting, predominantly focussing on the effects of plastic film gloving, inadequate resin mixing and the pressurisation of resin within the bore hole. These three effects have a critical influence on the load transfer of the steel bolt element, through the cured resin and into the surrounding strata.Gloving occurs due to the plastic film of the resin cartridge partially encasing or wrapping around the steel roof bolt element – a known phenomenon over many years (Pettibone, 1987). The plastic film creates regions of discontinuity between the bolt, cured resin and borehole, reducing effective load transfer into the strata. Experimentation conducted into the effects of bolt ends fully encased by plastic film (Pastars and MacGregor, 2005) revealed that load transfer can be reduced by 85 to 90% in worstcase occurrences. It is also known that the aggregate filler size used within the resin can assist in shredding and breaking up the plastic film – this effect was observed in a previous study on resin mixing effectiveness (McTyer et al., 2014)."

Jan 1, 2015

By W. G. Pariseau

A new approach to the direct inclusion of the effects of joints and geologic structure in rock mechanics analyses is applied to an elastic analysis of stability of a Lucky Friday undercut and 4111 longwall stope (WL) using the finite element method (FW). The approach is base+ on the concept of equivalent properties of a heterogeneous test volume, but does not depend on the assumption that a test volume is a representative volume element. Comparison with conventional FW results show greater variability in fields of stress, strain, displacement, safety factor and energy densities. Stability requires a knowledge of rock mass strengths as well as elastic moduli.

Jan 1, 1989

By Rob G. Jeffrey, Ken W. Mills, Jesse W. Puller

"A coal mine in New South Wales is longwall mining 300m wide panels at a depth of 160-180m directly below a 16-20 m thick conglomerate strata. As part of a strategy to use hydraulic fracturing to manage potential windblast and periodic caving hazards associated with this conglomerate strata, the in situ stresses in the conglomerate were measured using ANZI strain cells and the overcoring method of stress relief. Changes in stress associated with abutment loading and placement of hydraulic fractures were also measured using ANZI strain cells installed from the surface and from underground. This paper presents the results of in situ stress measurements and stress change monitoring undertaken as part of the hydraulic fracturing program.Overcore stress measurements have indicated the vertical stress is the lowest principal stress so that hydraulic fractures placed ahead of mining form horizontally and so provide effective pre-conditioning to promote caving of the conglomerate strata. Monitoring of the full-scale hydraulic fractures has confirmed the hydraulic fractures grow horizontally.Stress changes monitored during hydraulic fracturing formed part of a broader program to investigate fracture geometry and growth rates to confirm the characteristics of the hydraulic fractures placed. This monitoring showed that vertical stress in the conglomerate strata was being increased by up to 1 MPa in close proximity to the hydraulic fracture and had the effect of tending to promote asymmetrical growth of subsequent fractures about the injection borehole.Monitoring of stress changes in the overburden strata during longwall retreat was undertaken at two different locations at the mine. The monitoring indicated stress changes were evident 150 m ahead of the longwall face and abutment loading reached a maximum increase of about 7.5 MPa. The stresses ahead of mining change gradually with distance to the approaching longwall and in a direction consistent with the horizontal in situ stresses. There was no evidence in the stress change monitoring results to indicate significant cyclical forward abutment loading ahead of the face consistent with the observations of face conditions underground adjacent to both measurement locations. The forward abutment load determined from the stress change monitoring is consistent with the weight of overburden strata overhanging the goaf indicated by subsidence monitoring."

Jan 1, 2015

By Nikzad Oraee, Parham Khajehpour, Kazam Oraee, Arash Goodarzi

"Rock fall related accidents continue to occur in coal mines, although artificial support mechanisms have been used extensively [1]. Roof stability is primarily determined in many underground mines by a limited number of methods that often resort to subjective criteria. It is argued in this paper that stability conditions of mine roof strata, as a key factor in coal mines, must be determined by a survey which proactively investigates fundamental aspects.Failure of rock around the opening happens as a result of both high rock stress conditions and the presence of structural discontinuities. The properties of such discontinuities affect the engineering behavior of rock masses causing wedges or blocks to fall from the roof or slide out of the walls [2]. A practical rule based approach to assess the risk of a roof fall is proposed in the paper. The method is based on the analysis of structural data and the geometry and stability of wedges in underground coal mines. In this regard, an accident causing a huge collapse in a coal mine leading to four fatalities is illustrated by way of a case study. A comprehensive investigation of the hanging wall has been gathered through a systematic collection of evidence. The investigation results are then analyzed, and an interpretation of the evidence gathered is provided.For this purpose, horizontal and vertical profiles are prepared by geophysical methods to define the falling zone and its boundaries. The collapse is then modeled by the use of sophisticated computer programs in order to identify the causes of the accident and hence recommend corrective actions to prevent or minimize reoccurrence probability of similar accidents. The corrective measures are placed into a rule-based framework for the benefit of the mine operators.INTRODUCTIONRoof rock failure has generally been the most dangerous hazard for underground coal mining in the world. Failure of rock around shallow coal mine openings often results from loosening of blocks of rock on the weakened planes under the influence of gravity. This condition is not typically seen in large deep coal mines. There are a number of differences between large mechanized mines and small mines related to ground control [3]."

Jan 1, 2015

By Gift Makusha

The Witbank Coalfield in South Africa contains up to five economically viable coal seams. These seams have been mined continuously for over 100 years and the reserve in now becoming depleted. The normal mining method has been bord and pillar with examples of stooping. The situation now occurs where the formed pillars, left to maintain stability, have a higher quality than the coal that is left in the unmined reserves. Where the reserves are less than 70m deep and continuous over several kilometers, opencast mining is being successfully applied. After several years of investigation, Anglo Coal has identified blocks of coal that warrant investigation with regard to pillar extraction by underground methods The proposed method is pillar extraction using Mobile Roof Supports (MRS) It is proposed to mine three panels at a depth of 120m, by keeping the panels narrow and sub-critical. The sub-critical layout does not allow caving to surface and more stress is thrown onto the barrier pillar rather than the face pillars. The sub-critical span is anticipated to be 100m. The paper describes the full geotechnical investigation, including numerical modelling, instrumentation and drawing on the local South African experience of shortwall mining. The project will be unique in that pillars were not designed for pillar extraction and have low factors of safety (l.4 - 1.8) and width to height ratios of less than 4. The mining height will be approximately 4-4 5m, and this represents "new" operating heights for Mining Roof Supports. The required equipment was ordered in late 2002 and pillar extraction is anticipated to begin in June 2003.

Jan 1, 2003

By Hideki Shimada

A low cost methodology that allows the determination of in- situ stress using oriented core specimens has been investigated. The technique can be used to determine the stresses during the early stages of a project, even in undeveloped areas of a mine. The research aim was to compare the experimental results estimated by the AE and DRA methods to those estimated by conventional ANZI (Australia and New Zealand Inflatable) cell measurements. The studies have been focused on fill stress tensor determination from a single oriented cored rock. In all cases the rock core specimens recollected the in-situ stress reasonably well compared with the standard overcoring method.

Jan 1, 2001

By Kanchan Mondal, Anthony (Sam) Spearing, Gopi Bylapudi, Joseph C. Hirschi

"The U.S. coal mining industry uses about 100 million rock anchors per year. ASTM F432 specifies the requirements for rock bolts on mines but does not address corrosion. Corrosion has been found to be an issue in Australian coal mines (Hebblewhite et al., 2003 and Villaescusa et al., 2007), where the problem has been researched and stress corrosion has been found to be a significant cause of rock falls. Corrosion is also a major concern for underground civil construction in the U.S. but has not been considered an issue or adequately researched in coal mines. Underground conditions are conducive to corrosion mainly because of water quality and humid conditions. There is a perception, however, that when bolts are fully grouted, adequate corrosion protection is offered to the steel. Research has shown that this is not necessarily the case, due to the formation of micro-cracks as the resin sets and with subsequent rock movement shearing the resin column. This paper outlines a method to determine the corrosion potential of bolts used in long-term excavations and suggests ways to mitigate such effects based on research conducted in the lab and on three mines.INTRODUCTIONResearch on rock anchor corrosion in mines has not been extensive enough in the past, and the effects of several factors in the mine atmosphere and waters are not clearly understood. One probable reason for this lack of research may be attributed to the time required for gathering meaningful data, which makes the study of corrosion quite challenging.Almost all the rock bolts used in coal mines are made from steel, hence the corrosion of iron needs to be understood. The corrosion of iron is an electrochemical phenomenon with the overall equation"

Jan 1, 2010

By Bingjie Huo

"China is a major coal producer and consumer. It is necessary to mine the steeply pitching coal seams due to development of the coal industry to meet the increasing needs for coal. Flexible shield supports mining is a safe and efficient mining method for steeply pitching coal seam that was first applied in HuaiNan mining area in the 1970s. The coal seams are steeply pitching in DaAnShan Colliery, so mining is mainly done by the flexible shield supports method. The roadway lay-out and extraction technology are researched in order to improve the safety, yield and work efficiency in the flexible shield supports working face. Optimization of the flexible shield supports mining method is discussed. The main optimization aspects are as follows: (1) the angle of working face and mining track roadways are increased from 23° to 28°, and (2) the technology and parameters of coal breaking are optimized. Applicable conditions, as well as advantages and disadvantages are also discussed. Finally, a comparison is made of the two different flexible shield supports mining methods, namely ""bench blasting . technology"" and ""piecewise blasting technology"".INTRODUCTIONChina is the largest producer and consumer of coal in the world and relies heavily on coal for energy production. At present, Chinese production is about 42% of the worldwide production, and coal has accounted for 76% of primary energy production. Coal plays a dominant role in the structure of energy production and consumption, which is fuel and an important industrial raw material but it is non-renewable. In recent years, the high inclined seams (35°< angle of coal seam < 45°) and steeply pitching coal seams (angle of coal seam >45°) have drawn increasing attention in the mining sector along with the growth of coal mining. There are two reasons. First, there are abundant reserves of high inclined and steeply pitching coal seams in China, which account for 15- 20% of total reserves (Xie, Dong-hai, 2007). Highly inclined and the steeply pitching coal seams are mined in more than 50% of the western mining provinces such as Sichuan, ChongQing, YunNan, GuiZhou, XinJiang, GanSu, NingXia, etc. As the mining of mineral resources continues west in the 21st century, the study of coal mining in high inclined seams and steeply pitching coal seams will be of great importance. Secondly, better quality coal has become scarcer in the eastern mining areas after years of exploitation, so steeply pitching seam mmmg is growing more prevalent. In short, carrying out research on steeply pitching seam mining technology plays an important role in sustaining the development of the Chinese coal industry."

Jan 1, 2010

By Michael Gauna, Christopher Mark

"Underground coal mining in the U.S. is conducted in numerous regions where previous workings exist above and/or below an actively mined seam. Miners know that overlying or underlying fully extracted coal areas, also known as gob regions, can result in abutment stresses that affect the active mining. If there was no full extraction, and the past mining consists entirely of intact pillars, the stresses on the active seam are usually minimal. However, experience has shown that in some situations there has been sufficient yielding in overlying or underlying pillar systems to cause stress transfer to the adjoining larger pillars or barriers, which in turn, transfer significant stresses onto the workings of the active seam. In other words, the overlying or underlying pillar system behaves as a ""pseudo gob."" The presence of a pseudo gob is often unexpected, and the consequences can be severe. This paper presents several case histories, summarized briefly below, that illustrate pseudo gob phenomenon:• Pillar rib degradation at a West Virginia mine at 1100-foot (335 m) depth that contributed to a rib roll fatality.• Pillar rib deterioration at a Western Kentucky mine at 570-foot (175 m) depth that required pillar size adjustment and installation of supplemental bolting.• Roof deterioration at an eastern Kentucky mine at 1300- foot ( 400 m) depth that stopped mine advance and required redirecting the section development.• Coal burst on development at an eastern Kentucky mine at 1700-foot (520 m) depth that had no nearby pillar recovery.• Coal burst on development at a West Virginia mine at the relatively shallow depth of 1100 feet (335 m) that also had no nearby pillar recovery.The paper provides guidance so that when an operation encounters a potential pseudo gob stress interaction the hazard can be mitigated based on an understanding of the mechanism encountered.INTRODUCTIONThe U.S. underground coal mining industry has conducted mining in multiple seam environments, where the active mining has underlying or overlying old workings at varying interburden distances, throughout its history. Often no serious consequences arise from the multiple seam mining. However, sometime mines have been confronted with hazards from underlying or overlying workings that include localized roof and rib failure, pillar system failures through propagating roof falls and floor heave, and also pillar bursts."

Jan 1, 2016

By Joe Zelanko

In order to prevent roof fall accidents and injuries, U.S. underground coal mine operators must develop and implement effective roof control strategies. Various tools are available to assist engineers in developing designs. For example, criteria to address global stability issues (e.g., pillar stability) are well established in the U.S.; effective tools (e.g., empirical and numerical) are available to diagnose potential problems and avoid catastrophic failures. However, most miner injuries occur as a result of local instability (e.g., a roof fall in a single heading or a rib roll from a pillar corner). Hazard recognition and the availability of support plans suitable to those conditions are key to maintaining stability and safety on the working section.

Jan 1, 2011

By Nathaniel Schaefer, Christopher Newman, Zach Agioutantis

"As mining reserves continue to be developed in deeper and more complex geological and geometric conditions, there has been an increased demand for underground mine designs to better reflect site-specific conditions, measurements, and observations with respect to ground control safety and stability. Current ground control design software are limited to a given device and data files generated can only contain a single design. However, with the growth of cloud computing and increases in internet access, even underground where permissible, web-based software applications allow for in-the-field calculations, as well as collaborations, from multiple users. webGroundControl (webGC) utilizes a multiple-tier architecture, building upon existing NIOSH ground control design software, more specifically ARBS, ALPS, and ARMPS. By providing operators the ability to access ground control design programs from any device, given an internet connection, webGC allows for on demand calculations to ensure underground pillar and roof stabilities with respect to current site-specific parameters, geometries, and geology. Through the development of new features, which aid in design analyses, as well as project collaborations, webGC provides the modern engineer with a more versatile ground control design tool for the improvement of underground health and safety. With the completion of the ARBS, ALPS, and ARMPS modules, this paper introduces potential users within the mining industry to the navigation and operation of the webGC application, as well as its ability to facilitate collaborations between operational personnel and planning engineers. The purpose of this paper is to raise interest in the web-based application before its official launch in Summer 2018."

Jan 1, 2017

By Hamid Maleki

Mining in the Book Cliffs Coal Field of Utah has historically been associated with seismicity because of high-stress environments and the presence of stiff, competent rocks. Recognizing the geotechnical risks in this coal field, mine engineers have dedicated considerable resources to the study of mine seismicity. In spite of these efforts, there are no engineering procedures for assessing mine seismicity for a new property and in developing mine designs. This paper presents the results of ongoing geotechnical monitoring and stress analyses at a western U.S. coal mine. The intent is to demonstrate the application of geotechnical methodologies in evaluating mine seismicity and stress-control technologies including evolutions in yield pillar designs for variable topographic conditions of the Book Cliffs Coal Field. We show that narrow yield pillars are quite effective in limiting strain energy accumulation along the gateroads and thus the potential for pillar seismicity. At the same time, the pillars provide sufficient resistance to control roof-floor convergence at the headgate, gradually unloading to residual strength inby the face position. Lagging, nonuniform caving of overburden rocks results in periodic stress concentrations at the tailgate comer. The sudden release of strain energy triggers sudden failure of critically loaded coal in this area of the high stress gradient. The three-entry gate pillar configuration promotes formation of long cantilevers and load transfer to the tailgate, contributing to formation of cutters and coal bumps. The source of seismicity is investigated while simulating slip along three sets of joints in two stiff stratigraphic units during multipanel extraction.

Jan 1, 2003

By Zbigniew Lubosik, Andrzej Walentek, Stanislaw Prusek, Aleksander Wrana

"The Carboniferous coal measures, mined across Europe including the major European underground coal mining countries of Poland, UK, Germany, and Czech Republic, suffer from increasing extraction depth. This results in major geomechanics problems associated with ground control and support design.With production being concentrated into ever fewer high performance longwalls, located at greater and greater depth, pressure to ensure the roadways’ functionality (required dimensions) continues to increase. Mining in deeper and more highly stressed mining environments creates several problems. The high stress and deterioration in geological and mining conditions in many cases causes problems with gateroads maintenance (due to excess convergence). That leads to costly production gaps, longwall slowing, transport problems, an increase in the methane hazard and in the general health and safety of the workforce, and deterioration in climatic conditions with major economic risk associated with interruption of the revenue stream. Time—and thus production—delays due to maintenance often result from insufficient geological and geotechnical data acquisition and misinterpretation combined with inadequate support for the type of rock mass.longwall face on the gateroad stability (described by the gateroad convergence, support load, and shape and height of the fractured zone around the longwall gateroad) are presented. The investigations were carried out in the longwall panel with roof caving located at the great depth, in conditions of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin in Poland.The measurement results showed that the gateroad fractures in roof strata began to occur at the distance of about 1000 m ahead of the face. Additionally, the load on support and gateroad convergence increased as the longwall face got closer.It is very important for coal mining research institutes and mine operators to investigate and develop practical solutions and apply innovative support technologies at a great depth (particularly for reinforcement and stabilization of roadways and other openings).Underground measurements of stability conditions around the gateroad is of great importance to mining practice, especially in planning and designing supports for longwall gateroads.The influence of the front abutment pressure results in an increase of support load, gateroad convergence, and shape of fractured rock zone."

Jan 1, 2015