Title: Optimisation study on coordinated mining model of coal reserves buried between adjacent surface mines

Authors: Li Ma; Kemin Li; Shuangshuang Xiao; Xiaohua Ding

Addresses: School of Energy Engineering, Xi'an University of Science and Technology Xi'an, Shaanxi – 710054, China; State Key Laboratory for Geomechanics and Deep Underground Engineering, School of Mines, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, Jiangsu – 221 116, China ' School of Mines, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, Jiangsu – 221 116, China ' School of Energy Engineering, Xi'an University of Science and Technology, Xi'an, Shaanxi – 710054, China ' School of Mines, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, Jiangsu – 221 116, China

Abstract: When coal excavations in two adjacent surface mines proceed in a parallel and equi-directional sequence, the stripping ratio in the overlapping section of two end walls is usually reduced; bring about remarkable economic benefits. A formula has been derived for calculating the effects of mining width on stripping ratio. An optimisation model of uncovered end-wall height and mining width is also constructed. Research results show that stripping ratio tends to decrease linearly and then increase at a slow rate as the mining width of reserves buried between adjacent surface mines (RBbASM) increases. When excavating the minimum RBbASM, there appears a stripping ratio surge. Therefore, this part of resource could not be considered for excavation. Heidaigou Surface Coal Mine (HSCM) and Ha'erwusu Surface Coal Mine (HeSCM) were selected as a case study, where the optimum uncovered end-wall height and the mining width of RBbASM are determined as 85.77 metres and 540 metres respectively. [Received: February 20, 2016; Accepted: September 5, 2016]

Keywords: parallel surface mine; coordinated mining; coal reserves buried between adjacent surface mines; inner-dumping covering.

DOI: 10.1504/IJOGCT.2017.087036

International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology, 2017 Vol.16 No.3, pp.283 - 297

Received: 20 Feb 2016
Accepted: 05 Sep 2016
Published online: 05 Oct 2017 *

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