DEFINITIONS:

COAL: Coal is an organic rock (as opposed to most other rocks in the earth's crust, such as
clays and sandstone, which are inorganic); it contains mostly carbon (C), but it also has
hydrogen (H), oxygen (O), sulfur (S) and nitrogen (N), as well as some inorganic constituents
(minerals) and water (H2O).
Mine: An excavation made in the earth to extract minerals.
Mining: The activity, occupation, and industry concerned with the extraction of minerals.
Mining engineering: the practice of applying engineering principles to the development,
planning, operation, closure, and reclamation of mines.

Coal is divided into 4 ranks: (1) Anthracite coal

(2) Bituminous coal
(3) Sub-bituminous coal
(4) Lignite coal
(1) ANTHRACITE COAL:
Sometimes also called “hard coal,” anthracite forms from bituminous coal when great pressures
developed in folded rock strata during the creation of mountain ranges. Anthracite has the
highest energy content of all coals & is used for making coke, a fuel used in steel foundry oven.

(2) BITUMINOUS COAL:

Great pressure results in the creation of bituminous , or “soft” coal. This is the type most
commonly used for electric power generation. It has a higher heating value than either lignite or
sub-bituminous, but less than that of anthracite.

ADVANTAGES:
• One of the most abundant energy sources.
• Versatile; can be burned directly, transformed into liquid, gas, or feedstock.
• Inexpensive compared to other energy sources.
• Good for recreational use (charcoal for barbequing, drawing).
• Can be used to produce ultra-clean fuel.
• Can lower overall amount of greenhouse gases (liquification or gasification).
• Leading source of electricity today.
• Reduces dependence on foreign oil.
• By-product of burning (ash) can be used for concrete and roadways.

DISADVANTAGES:
• Source of pollution: emits waste, SO2 , Nitrogen Oxide, ash.
• Coal mining mars the landscape.
• Liquification, gasification require large amounts of water.
• Physical transport is difficult.
• Technology to process to liquid or gas is not fully developed.
• Solid is more difficult to burn than liquid or gases.
• Not renewable in this millennium.
• High water content reduces heating value.
• Dirty industry—leads to health problems.
• Dirty coal creates more pollution and emissions.
The major equipment for the mine producing 7 Mt/yr
 6 x electric rotary drills (250 mm dia.) for overburden
 12 x electric shovels with 17 m3 buckets for overburden
 4 x hydraulic shovels with 11 m3 buckets for coal
 6 x rubber tired front end loaders with 9.6 m3 buckets
 50 x 154 t 900 kW rear dump trucks for waste haulage
 14 x 109 t 900 kW rear dump trucks for coal haulage
 19 x 300 kW track-mounted bulldozers
 3 x 224 kW wheeled bulldozers
 other vehicles (Pick-up cars, Site-mixing truck, Graders, Water spray trucks etc.)

MINING METHODS:

1. Surface/open cut mines:

 Strip mining; dragline
 Open pit mining; truck & shovel, BWE etc.

2. Underground mines: manual, semi-mechanized, fully-mechanized

 Bord / Room-and-pillar mining
 Longwall / shortwall mining
 Other methods depending on seam conditions
1. Surface Mining: Most of these are mined by open pit or open cast methods. In open
pit mining, a mechanical extraction method, a thick deposit is generally mined in
benches or steps, although thin deposits may require only a single bench or face. Open
pit or open cast mining is usually employed to exploit a near-surface deposit or one that
has a low stripping ratio. It often necessitates a large capital investment but generally
results in high productivity, low operating cost, and good safety conditions.
.

2. Underground Mining: Underground methods-unsupported ,supported, and

caving—are differentiated by the type of wall and roof supports used, the configuration
and size of production openings, and the direction in which mining operations progress.
The unsupported methods of mining are used to extract mineral deposits that are
roughly tabular and are generally associated with strong ore and surrounding rock.
These methods are termed unsupported because they do not use any artificial pillars to
assist in the support of the openings. However, generous amounts of roof bolting and
localized support measures are often used. Room-and-pillar mining is the most common
unsupported method, used primarily for flat-lying seams or bedded deposits like coal,
trona , limestone ,and salt. Support of the roof is provided by natural pillars of the
mineral that are left standing in a systematic pattern. Stope-and-pillar mining (a stope is
a production opening in a metal mine) is a similar method used in noncoal mines where
thicker, more irregular ore bodies occur; the pillars are spaced randomly and located in
low-grade ore so that the high-grade ore can be extracted.
Typical Properties of Characteristic Coal Types
COAL TYPE CARBON CONTENT, wt % MOISTURE, w% SULPHUR, wt % ASH,wt %

Bituminous*

(Anthracite) 67 % 3-13 2–4 7 - 14

Sub-bituminous* 49 % 28 - 30 0.3–0.5 5-6

Lignite* 40 % 30 - 34 0.6 - 1.6 7-16Table

2.1 2004 Character

India:
Proved amount in place (hard coal only, million tonnes) 105 820

Proved recoverable reserves (total coal, million tonnes) 60 600

Production (total coal, million tonnes) 515.8

Coal is the most abundant fossil fuel resource in India, which is the world’s third largest coal
producer. The principal deposits of hard coal are in the eastern half of the country, ranging from
Andhra Pradesh, bordering the Indian Ocean, to Arunachal Pradesh in the extreme northeast:
the eastern States of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal together account for
about 77% of reserves. The Ministry of Coal (quoting the Geological Survey of India) states that
at 1 April 2009, India’s geological resources of bituminous coal comprised 105.8 billion tonnes
of ‘proved resources’, 123.5 billion tonnes of ‘indicated resources’ and 37.9 billion tonnes of
‘inferred resources’. Coking coals constitute 17% of the tonnage of proved resources. The
resources quoted are the result of exploration down to a depth of 1200 m.

Considerable uncertainty remains regarding India’s coal reserves, particularly as to (i) whether
they represent remaining tonnages or need to be reduced by the subtraction of past years’
production, and (ii) whether it is appropriate to assess coal resources down to a depth of 1 200
metres, when current coal mines in India do not generally exceed 300 m. Although it is not
possible to draw definitive conclusions from the information available, the downside
implications of these considerations should be borne in mind.

Lignite deposits mostly occur in the southern State of Tamil Nadu. All-India resources of lignite
are quoted in the 11th Five Year Plan as 38.27 billion tonnes as at 1 April 2006, with proved
reserves put at 4.5 billion tonnes. About 2.4 billion tonnes in the Neyveli area of Tamil Nadu
have been stated to be regarded as ‘mineable under the presently adopted mining parameters’.
Annual production of lignite is currently in the region of 32 million tonnes, almost all of which is
used for electricity generation.

Although India’s coal reserves cover all ranks from lignite to bituminous, they tend to have a
high ash content and a low calorific value. The low quality of much of its coal prevents India
from being anything but a small exporter of coal (traditionally to the neighboruring countries of
Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan) and conversely, is responsible for sizeable imports , mainly from
Australia, China, Indonesia and South Africa.

Coal is the most important source of energy for electricity generation in India: about three-
quarters of electricity is generated by coal-fired power stations. In addition, the steel, cement,
fertilizer , chemical, paper and many other medium and small-scale industries are also major
coal users.

Australia:
Proved amount in place (total coal, million tonnes) 100 500

Proved recoverable reserves (total coal, million tonnes) 76 400

Production (total coal, million tonnes) 397.6

China:
Proved amount in place (total coal, million tonnes) NA

Proved recoverable reserves (total coal, million tonnes) 114 500

Production (total coal, million tonnes) 3 384

Germany:
Proved amount in place (total coal, million tonnes) NA

Proved recoverable reserves (total coal, million tonnes) 40 548

Production (total coal, million tonnes) 189.5

Pakistan:
Proved amount in place (total coal, million tonnes) 3 451

Proved recoverable reserves (total coal, million tonnes) 2 070

Production (total coal, million tonnes) 3.9

Russian Federation:
Proved amount in place (total coal, million tonnes) 194 000

Proved recoverable reserves (total coal, million tonnes) 157 010

Production (total coal, million tonnes) 326.5

Ukraine:
Proved amount in place (total coal, million tonnes) 45 164

Proved recoverable reserves (total coal, million tonnes) 33 873

Production (total coal, million tonnes) 59.7