Applicability of the shortwall mining methods in Rembas mine pits

Abstract

In the Rembas mine pits, the coal exploitation lasts for more than one century. During this period, most of coal reserves have been mined, so there is a need for introduction the new and modern technical solutions, which will enable rationalization of exploitation, higher productivity, safety on operations and better operation conditions with lower investments. In the Rembas mine pits for coal exploitation, the low-productive pillar mining methods are used. During the eighties of the last century in some pits, the mechanized longwall mining method was applied, but the expensive equipment and complex natural-geological conditions in the area Resava-Moravian coal basin restrict application of this metod. Bad financial situation, as well as the increasingly difficult operation conditions of exploitation, indicate a need to apply some of the methods which would be technically justified, and whose cost of exploitation would be proportional to the possibilities of mine. In this paper, the possibilities for application the shortwall mining methods are considered with their advantages compared to the previously applied mining methods in the Rembas mine.