Taking into consideration the many recent changes intechnology, regulations, design and other factors thathave made their footprint on today’s mining operations, where is the underground coal mining industry headed?
By: John E. Feddock, P.E.Senior Vice PresidentMarshall Miller & Associates, Inc.During 2010, we at
Marshall Miller & Associates, Inc.
observed numerous changes in the undergroundcoal industry, which experienced a difficult year, probably the most difficult if not the most challengingyear to mine safety, since the late 1960’s. In business terms, underground coal mining, especially in theCentral Appalachian region of the U.S., is a mature industry in that it operates with experiencedpersonnel, uses well established mining systems, operates the most technologically advancedequipment, and produces steam and metallurgical products that are in high demand both internationallyand nationally. Investment in the U.S. coal industry by foreign companies continues at a fever pitch aswe continue to see a growth rate in the international market. Despite increasing production andconsumption in China, India and other developing countries, U.S. coal mining companies struggle tocompete under an anti-coal administration at the federal level, an ever increasing onslaught of environmental restrictions and regulatory changes, and with changes in mining conditions in coal seamsthat in many instances are unprecedented. These challenges create the need for a more technologicallyadvanced miner and engineer using state of the art measurement systems, computer analysis and minemonitoring, as well as implementing old techniques in innovative ways to safely mine coal undergroundtoday and in the future.Mining conditions have changed in the last decade and this is especially true in the Central AppalachianBasin. Due to the rich mining heritage in the Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia coal fields, it is trulyrare to find an unmined coal seam in any area of these states that has not been previously overmined,undermined, or more typically both. This is not just a U.S. problem. While speaking with some Russianminers earlier this year, I observed that my father mined the best coal first, to which they resoundinglyreplied “yes, and so did ours”. All of this undermining and overmining has brought mining complexitiesand conditions to coal seams that previous miners experienced only on an occasional basis, but are nowregular occurrences rather than the exceptions. These changes fall into three categories: subsidence inseams lying above the previously mined lower seam; pressure concentrations from barrier pillars inoverlying coal seams upon lower coal seams; and methane migration from areas previously mined inlower seams to overlying seams or to strata traps above the previously mined areas in underlying mines.Subsidence of the surface is a well understood phenomenon occurring above longwall panels or aboveareas where pillar extraction or retreat mining is practiced. However, the impact upon coal seams as wellas upon the roof and floor strata overlying such full extraction areas is less well understood. Due to thefrequency of mining above full extraction areas, prediction of potential roof problems, especially withlateral changes in roof lithology and selecting the types of roof support needed for strata reinforcement, iscritical for profitable mining. Available geophysical tools, such as a sonic velocity can measure changesin the speed of sound in strata that is used to predict rock strength and strata integrity, and the acousticteleviewer that profiles the surface of the borehole, mapping not only the occurrence of fractures, but their orientation and inclination needed for determining the direction of principle stresses. At the very least
Leave a Comment