Mining Publication: Extreme Multiple Seam Mining in the Central Appalachian Coalfields
Original creation date: March 2006
Authors: C Mark
NIOSHTIC2 Number: 20029907
2006 SME Annual Meeting and Exhibit, March 27-29, St. Louis, Missouri, preprint 06-060. Littleton, CO: Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc., 2006 Mar; :1-7
Coal has been mined in the central Appalachian coalfields of southern West Virginia, western Virginia, and eastern Kentucky for more than a century. The dwindling reserve base consists in large part of coal that would have been considered unmineable by earlier generations. Nearly every current operation is working on a property where coal has been extracted in the past from seams either above, below, or both. NIOSH is conducting research aimed at helping mine planners prevent hazardous conditions due to multiple-seam interactions. To date, more than 300 case histories have been collected from underground mines mainly in central Appalachia. This paper focuses on several of the more challenging situations that have been encountered, including: (1) room-and-pillar development 20 ft beneath full-extraction workings at a depth of 1,000 ft of cover (Virginia); (2) pillar recovery 45 ft above full-extraction workings at 900 ft of cover (Virginia); (3) near-simultaneous room-and-pillar mining with pillar recovery with 40 ft of interburden and 1,500-2,000 ft of cover (Kentucky); and (4) longwall mining directly beneath main entries in overlying seams (West Virginia). Some of these operations have been highly successful in overcoming the challenges, other less so. The lessons learned from their experience will help ensure that these and similar difficult reserves can be mined safely.
NIOSHTIC2 Number: 20029907
2006 SME Annual Meeting and Exhibit, March 27-29, St. Louis, Missouri, preprint 06-060. Littleton, CO: Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc., 2006 Mar; :1-7
- Deep Cover Pillar Recovery in the US
- Drainage of Methane From the Overlying Pocahontas No. 4 Coalbed From Workings in the Pocahontas No. 3 Coalbed
- Methane Emissions from Four Working Places in the Beckley Mine, Raleigh County, W. Va.
- Methods of Determining the Orientations of Bedrock Fracture Systems in Southwestern Pennsylvania and Northern West Virginia
- Multiple Seam Mining Interactions: Case Histories from the Harris No. 1 Mine
- Multiple-Seam Mining Interactions: Case Histories from the Harris No. 1 Mine
- Proceedings of the First American Conference on Human Vibration
- Proceedings: New Technology for Ground Control in Multiple-seam Mining
- Removing Methane (Degasification) from the Pocahontas No. 4 Coalbed in Southern West Virginia
- Rotary Drilling Techniques Used in the Beckley Coalbed