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By Kot F. v. Unrug

The present combination of coal market prices and reserves, situated in the Central Appalachian Coal Field, is such that mining of smaller coal reserve blocks has become economically attractive. In above drainage deposits, and particularly under mountain ridges, overburden depth can be changing within a wide range. Mines operating in these deposits are usually developing mains along the center of the ridge, with panels projecting from the mains towards the outcrop. Due to changing topography, proximity of the outcrop, and related cover depth, the panels have various lengths. In this reported case study, a mine in Pike County, Kentucky, along the Kentucky ?West Virginia border, difficult ground conditions were encountered, during the development of the mains, under shallow cover, along a narrow mountain ridge. An area having unusual density of vertical joints was encountered. Mining operations were suspended because of roof stability concerns. The ground conditions were studied, analyzed, and control measures proposed to ensure safe passage through the difficult roof area of the mine. The advancement of the mains, through this area of challenging ground conditions, was successfully completed. In this paper, ground conditions are described, with an explanation of the geologic process contributing to their formation. It is interesting to note that similar locations were predicted by the authors, to be encountered in the same mine, based upon the experience gathered from studying conditions of the case described within this paper. When approaching the predicted locations, stability problems appeared to be even more challenging than those encountered previously. Due to changes in the coal market, mine management chose to move the affected mining section to another area of the mine having better coal quality. The advancement of the mains, through the difficult ground conditions, was temporarily postponed. Based upon the analysis of a probable kinematical mechanism of blocks in the mine roof, ground control measures were proposed. The actual application of these principles proved to be appropriate, ensuring safe passage through the difficult ground conditions encountered in the mine.

Jan 1, 2006

By Bill Stormes

This paper will discuss implementation of the Hilti OneStep rock anchor technology to improve face bolting operations during the May 2008 longwall move; increase rock anchor installation capacity; and improve safety by reducing employee exposure periods by utilizing the Hilti OneStep rock anchors.

Jan 1, 2008

By Karl Zipf

In highwall mining, once a sufficient number of web pillars are developed, they can fail catastrophically in a domino-type failure, posing a safety hazard to highwall miners and sterilizing mineable reserves. Three recent case histories of catastrophic web pillar failure in U.S. and Australian mines are documented and analyzed with two design approaches. The conventional design approach uses only a strength criterion, while the postfailure design approach uses both strength and stability criteria to insure an acceptable failure mode should strength failure occur. Catastrophic highwall web pillar failures can cost money through equipment losses, production losses, coal reserve sterilization and lost opportunity costs. Coal recovery may be higher. but the benefits of higher recovery must balance the potential costs of failure. Application of the conventional or postfailure design approach will decrease coal recovery and revenues, but the risk of potentially costly failure is much less.

Jan 1, 1999

By Anil K. Ray

This paper discusses in situ studies conducted at an Illinois Basin room-and-pillar coal mine to evaluate the performances of three different types of bolts under similar geologic conditions. The bolt types considered were the fully grouted passive rebar (FGPR), the resin-assisted mechanical anchor (RMAB), and the fully grouted tension rebar (FGTR). During the evaluations, the three types of bolts were installed in a single entry covering a span of three contiguous pillars with almost identical geologic conditions. The performances of the three types of bolts were investigated by instrumentting the bolts prior to installation as primary supports on cycle. Additional data on roof behavior was collected with extensometers and shear meters placed near the instrumented bolts. Excluding some time lapse right after installation, the performance evaluation of the three bolt systems was based on the data collected for over a year. Based on this study, it was found that the axial loads measured in the different bolt types did not show any identifiable patterns under the prevailing geological conditions at the mine. Therefore, the assumption that active bolts must be superior to passive ones is not always valid. Even though the studied mine did not have any thinly laminated, weak rocks in the immediate roof, the passive bolts performed as well as the active systems.

Jan 1, 2012

By Sam Spearing

Free-standing supports are commonly used in coal mines in the USA, particularly when longwalling. A recent trend has been the development of prop supports. Prop supports have many advantages over bulky, crib-type secondary standing supports, particularly in regard to material handling and installation. The challenge in prop design has been to develop load capacities that can compete with crib type systems and to develop reliable (stable) yielding capability. This paper will focus on the design aspects of steel prop supports, specifically, and evaluate the various concepts that have been developed to provide easy height adjustment and sustainable stable yielding under load. The design and resulting improvement provided by recent support developments called the Quik Stik and Ball Buster are discussed in detail. Performance areas that still need improvement in the design and usage of free standing supports in general are identified and possible solutions outlined.

Jan 1, 2008

By Lixun Kang

Bedded structure is the characteristics of coal measures strata. Bedding planes, coal streaks and soft rock bands existing in roof strata destroyed its continuity in the direction perpendicular to the coal seams. The statistics from a large number of long wall faces in which serious roof fall accidents occurred in Datong coal mining area suggest that beddings planes, coal streaks, soft rock bands, especially the first layer thickness of immediate roof have a great influence on its stability. As the first layer thickness increases, the probability of serious roof fall accidents decreases. Based on the investigations finite element method is used to analyze stress and displacement in the first layer of immediate roof. The results indicate that the thicker the first layer is, the less the roof convergence in the unsupported area is. Stress and strain features in stratified immediate roof are quite different f7om those in non- bedded immediate roof. In stratified immediate roof, every stratum has each own tensile zone in the upper portion and compressive zone in the lower portion, while tensile zone in the first layer is less, the tensile stress is the greatest.

Jan 1, 2005

By Joe F. T. Agapito

High stresses and adverse geology in deep coal mines in the state of Utah, USA, have caused numerous bumps. The larger bumps have been associated with seismic events with Richter magnitudes of 3.6 and greater, and in some cases have filled openings for lengths of 150 m. A better understanding of the mechanisms and stress levels involved in bumping is needed to help develop improved stress control design and bump mitigation methods. The geology of the area is notoriously bump-prone. The coal has poorly developed cleating and occurs in multiple seams that are often bounded by very strong roof and floor sandstone/siltstone beds. The overburden is formed by thick, competent strata with numerous sandstone channels This geology and deep cover are the major source of high stresses, causing bumps. This paper evaluates live common stress factors responsible for bump problems: depth, sandstone channels, arching, faults, and coal thickness. It uses ease study data from longwall panels with two-entry/yield pillar systems typical of deeper Utah mines. Results illustrate the importance of analyzing stress factor experience to allow a better understanding of the problem.

Jan 1, 2000

By Wenquan Zhang

Based on the mining and geological conditions of Wadong Mine, Longkou City, Shandong Province, China, a viscoelastic model with proper creep parameters was established. The 3-D ANSYS was used to simulate surface subsidence, analyze overburden subsidence characteristics, and propose the rational mining and pillar widths for mining in weak rocks and under special mining conditions, and provide the policy makers scientific data for decision making on mining activities.

Jan 1, 2006

By Kieran Black

The immediate roof lithology at United Colliery is extremely variable and provides a challenge for the design of secondary support. Support design in recent longwall installation roads at the mine has been carried out using strata management techniques. These techniques allow a robust yet economical secondary roof support design to be achieved. Analysis of roof lithology and roof displacement during first pass driveage are used as a basis for the optimisation of the secondary support design prior to roadway widening. This paper will demonstrate the application of practical strata management techniques in the optimisation of secondary roof support in six installation roadways at United Colliery. The experience gained from the installation roadways for LWs 1 to 5 will be briefy discussed. The experience from LW 6 will be discussed in greater detail. The paper will describe the strata management system that was used, including mapping, borescoping and extensometry, as well as the development and application of a Trigger Action Response Plan (TARP).

Jan 1, 2007

By D. N. Bigby

This paper concentrates on ground control innovation in Europe since the first Morgantown conference, mainly from a UK perspective. In particular, it describes the rock engineering and ground control tools developed to address the mine support and design problems associated with coal mining at great depth in areas influenced by previous workings. The differences in approach across the Western European industries are also examined. Perhaps the most significant change in the period has been in the science of coal mine rock mechanics itself, with support design now based firmly on measurement, analysis and understanding. The ground control innovations described here have played their part in increasing the efficiency with which coal is mined and in increasing safety to the extent that fall of ground accidents are now rare.

Jan 1, 2006

By John Smyth

Mining through in panel entries and the full face recovery method has been successfully practiced at U.S. Stwl, Mine 50. Suppat of the cut-through entries and recovery room is critical. Traditionally, concrete crib or fly ash cement backfill has been utilized. However, these traditional methods are not feasible at Mine 50 due to the difficulties of the plow face mining through these types of support. Recent development of new cable support systems provides an option for cut-through entry support. Mine 50 and Jennmar Corporation personnel have worked together to design and apply the cable systems in the cut-through entries and full face recovery room to eliminate standing support. To date, a number of full face recovery rooms and cut-through inpanel entries have been successfully mined. The results indicate that the cable systems combined with high capacity shields, have provided sufficient capacity to support the roof. Utilizing the Jennmar Finite Element Analysis (JFEA) computer program (Stankus and Guo, 1996), an analysis of the stress and roof deflection changes as the longwall gradually cut through was conducted. From the finite element analysis data, a supplemental support plan was designed. The history and experiences at Mine 50 are presented. Based on the case experiences and modifications made to the finite element analysis, an improved design criteria for future use has been formulated.

Jan 1, 1998

By Stephen C. Tadolini

The International Ground Control Conference in Mining has always provided an open forum for the publication, presentation, discussion, and often heated debate on roof bolting systems mostly with attention to how, when, and why they work. During the last 24 Conferences at least 170 papers have been presented by International Experts on these ?simple? devices that range in length from 30-inches to 20 ft and from 5/8 to 2 inches in diameter. Roof bolts are primarily mechanically anchored, glued, cemented, or driven. Bolts are placed vertically, angled, or tied together with special fixtures (trusses and slings). They have been termed active, passive, stick-slip, and several other descriptive acronyms or mining slang expressions. This retrospective paper will present the changes in bolt types and usage, point out some of the biggest myths and hail the most significant advances (according to the authors? opinions of course).

Jan 1, 2006

By Sudhir Kumar Kashyap

In underground activities ground control is a challenging problem. It affects safety, production, and efficiency. As per statistics of accident data, ?fall of roof/sides? is one of the major causes of mine accidents. In many cases, our experiences and understanding of soil and rock behavior still fall short of being able to predict how the ground will behave. Presently, empirical approaches to design are widely used in estimating mine support parameters. Under these circumstances, expert judgment plays an important role, and such accidents can be obviated with accurate measurement and optimization of data and analysis using the neuro-fuzzy technique of artificial intelligence. Recently, a neuro-fuzzy hybrid approach has become one of the major areas of interest in engineering fields because it gets the benefits of neural networks as well as those of fuzzy logic systems, and it removes the individual disadvantages by combining them on the common features. Neural network and fuzzy logic technologies have common features, such as a distributed representation of knowledge, the ability to handle data with uncertainty and imprecision, etc., like in ground control. Fuzzy logic technique has tolerance for imprecision of data, while neural networks have tolerance for noisy data. In this paper we have focused an intelligent technique, i.e., neuro-fuzzy technique, to approximate the setting load given to the standing support (props) erected for the purpose of supporting freshly exposed roof during underground mining. We have used twelve input variables of rock parameters, and after having trained using a neural network with a sigmoidal function as an activation function, simulation was done to find the output parameter, i.e., the pre-load (setting load)to be applied on props. Outputs of the neural network were again fed to the fuzzy system together with the twelve parameters, incorporating five triangular membership functions for each parameter. Final optimum output was approximated using the MATLAB program, which was found to be satisfactory. Neuro-fuzzy technique has better performance over individual neural networks or fuzzy logic technique.

Jan 1, 2012

By Sean Harvey

One of the manifestations of the dynamically induced failures in deep coal mines is the violent ejection of coal from the ribs. A possible protection against such failures is the use of a specifically designed dynamic support system with reinforcement units having the sufficient capacity to absorb the kinetic energy of the dynamic failure and a skin support that can adequately contain the disintegrated coal. With this method of mitigation in mind, a recently introduced yielding rock bolt, trade name Roofex, has been identified (Harvey and Ozbay, 2009) as a possible energy absorbing component of a dynamic support system. According to the manufacturer?s specification, the Roofex bolts can yield 300 mm (or more) displacement while holding 80 kN pull load. In order to assess the performance of this support unit in coal ribs, a series of in situ pull tests performed in two coal mines in Colorado. The results show that, under conventional pull test loading conditions, Roofex yielding bolts perform very close to their claimed specifications, thus showing a potential for their use as the main energy absorbing component of a dynamic support system. Further studies are required to confirm the in situ performance of these bolts under dynamic loading conditions and also to develop a containment component for a dynamic support system for the mitigation of dynamic coal rib failures.

Jan 1, 2009

By Yi Luo

A longwall mining operation went under a tall, self-supporting and free-standing wireless communication transmission tower. In anticipation of that the ground subsidence process might affect the transmission tower, the mining company took a proactive approach to mitigate the expected subsidence influences. The efforts include prediction of surface subsidence process at the location of the tower, assessment of stability, structural integrity and functionality of the tower structures, and design and implementation of mitigation measures. The intension of this paper is to demonstrate the techniques that can be used to assess and mitigate the subsidence effects on tall self-supporting and free standing tower structures.

Jan 1, 2008

By John H. Perry

Strata III is a full-spectrum roof control system which provides the mine operator the ability to upgrade his roof control in place. The procedure is easily adaptable with current roof bolting techniques. To use the system, the operator starts by installing a special hollow core mechanically anchored roof belt during the roof bolting cycle. This bolt can be upgraded to a fully grouted tensioned rebar bolt by injecting StrataGee G-300, a special polyurethane grout, around the bolt through an injection port in the roof plate. This same bolt can then be used to inject RokLok binders for roof consolidation by pumping the binders through the core of the bolt. This concept in roof control was developed to provide the mine operator a flexible way to maintain roof control in areas which deteriorate over time, or must be kept open for long periods of time. Possible locations of use would be: longwall set-up rooms, recovery rooms, headgates, intersections, and belt entries.

Jan 1, 1987

By Tex M. Kubacki

In 2007, the University of Utah Seismograph Stations (UUSS) temporarily expanded its seismic monitoring network in Emery County, Utah, in response to the August 6 Crandall Canyon mine collapse that trapped six workers. In spite of this additional coverage, no seismic events were located in the area during a six-day period (gap) from August 8 to August 13. The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) ?Command Center Log Books? however, contain references to 16 instances of underground ?bumping? and ?bouncing? that occurred during the gap. When ground truth information provided by the log books is compared to the raw seismic data recorded by the UUSS network, the correlation offers insight into the chronology of mininginduced seismicity (MIS) in the aftermath of the collapse. The new research focuses on identifying and locating seismic events that occurred during the six-day gap using double-difference relocation techniques and correlating them with log book ground truth. Ten seismic events were identified in the vicinity of the mine during the six-day gap, ranging in magnitude from coda magnitude (MC) 0.5 to 1.4. Three of these events were amenable to location by double-difference techniques. The location of one of these events is directly confirmed by ground truth information from the log books. As a result of this new research, the accuracy of Crandall Canyon double-difference locations has been improved, and the number of events correlated with ground truth information has increased. The seismic events occurring in and around the collapsed area appear in two distinct sections of the mine?east and west of the center of collapse. It was originally reported that the post-collapse events occurred in episodic clusters. The first two episodes occurred to the east, followed in time by a cluster on the west, and then by a third episode on the east. With the addition of new events to the data set, this pattern is no longer as clear, although the events still occur in clusters. Only one MIS cluster was found to occur within the bounds of the minimum estimated collapse area (Pechmann et al., 2008).

Jan 1, 2012

By Andrew P. Schissler

The Citronen Zinc-Lead Project is one of the world?s largest undeveloped zinc-lead resources, containing more than 13 billion pounds of zinc and lead metal. The project is located in northern Greenland, a self-governed region of the Kingdom of Denmark (Figure 1). Citronen is the northern-most mine in the world, operating at a latitude of 83o 3? N. In excess of 67,000 meters of diamond drilling have been completed to delineate the resource. As of January 2012, the measured, indicated, and inferred reserves for the Citronen project totaled 70.8 million tonnes, consisting of 5.7% zinc + lead (3.5% zinc cut-off) (Ironbark, 2012). For the underground mine plan, room-and-pillar and long holestoping mining methods were selected. The beneficial application of structural fill was considered for increased recovery, efficient tailings disposal, and ground control. Three types of fill were compared - paste fill, cemented rock fill, and iced tailings. An environmental and economic feasibility study concluded that iced tailings was the preferred alternative provided it met the ground control requirements. The purpose of this paper is to explain the investigatory steps that led to the possibility for the use of iced tailings as structural fi

Jan 1, 2012

By Christopher Mark

Multiple seam interactions are a major ground control hazard in many U.S. underground coal mines. The two most common types are: ? Undermining, where stress concentrations caused by previous full extraction in an overlying seam is the primary concern, and; ? Overmining, where previous full extraction in an underlying seam can result in stress concentrations and rock damage from subsidence. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has completed a major study aimed at helping to identify the location and likely severity of these interactions. In the course of field visits to mines throughout the U.S., more than 300 multiple seam case histories were assembled into the largest data base of multiple seam case histories ever collected. These data were analyzed with the multivariate statistical technique of logistic regression. The study also employed LaM2D to estimate the multiple seam stresses, ALPS and ARMPS to determine pillar stability factors, and the CMRR to measure roof quality. The study resulted in the development of a computer program, called Analysis of Multiple Seam Stability (AMSS), which can help mine planners to evaluate each potential interaction and take steps to reduce the risk of ground control failure. AMSS first evaluates pillar design by calculating the single seam Stability Factor (SFSS) using ALPS or ARMPS. It also automatically generates a LaM2D analysis that provides the additional multiple seam stress so that the final, multiple seam SFMS can be determined. The second part of the AMSS procedure builds upon the statistical findings that overmining is much more difficult than undermining, isolated remnant pillars cause more problems than gob-solid boundaries, and weaker roof significantly increases the risk of multiple seam interactions. AMSS quantifies these effects and predicts the outcome in terms of three levels of risk: GREEN (where a major multiple seam interaction is considered unlikely), YELLOW (where adding a pattern of cable bolts or other equivalent supplemental support could greatly reduce the probability of a major interaction.), or RED (a major interaction should be considered likely, and it may be desirable to avoid the area entirely).

Jan 1, 2007

By Xinxian Zhai

Jining No. 3 Coal Mine, a subsidiary of Yanzhou Coal Company Limited. China, is a super-large modern mine. The coal mine is not only the first one constructed with five-million tons of designed production capacity in China, but also a modern underground coal mine with coal transportation systems by trains and ships, and with a power plant. Based on the hard roof conditions of the sublevel caving coal face in the fault-affected zone, the authors designed rebar and cable bolts for supporting the tailgate that is separated from the gob by a narrow pillar. With extensometers and borescope, strata behavior was systematically studied during tailgate development: (1). Roof convergence is much smaller as well as roof strata separation between inside and outside the anchored zone. (2). The affected zone during tailgate development is approximately 50 m. (3). Because of serious floor heave and obvious rib convergence, the tailgate finally turned into a reversed-trapezoid from the original rectangular shape. (4). There being many joints and fractures in the pillar, coal is crushed from the elastic bedded structure into loose blocky materials. But the tailgate met the service requirements during longwall retreat mining, and demonstrated that the method of roof support was a success. Since then, roof bolting has been widely used for the tailgate of longwall panels at Jining No. 3 Coal Mine. Keywords: coal mine; bolt supporting; tailgate; convergence of surrounding rock; ground control; strata behaviors.

Jan 1, 2007