The evolution of thick coal seams mining methods in China

Abstract

The article is shown that the main methods used in China for coal mining from thick seams at the moment are two methods the Complex mechanized method of developing seams at their full capacity (used only in simple geological conditions and is an additional method for the following) and Complex mechanized mining method with coal production (which is used mainly, including in difficult conditions). Despite the fact that these methods have positively proven themselves over the years, their use has a number of significant drawbacks, including a low extraction rate, an increased risk of endogenous combustion and rock burst, and others. Currently, a promising way is a development method with a diagonal (cross-shaped) arrangement of drifts, which helps to eliminate many of the shortcomings of previous methods, including a low recovery coefficient, the risk of spontaneous combustion, the need to support the drift and others. It is expected that this method will be widely used for underground coal mining in deep mines in China with difficult mining and geological conditions.