Abstract
Highwall mining (HWM) technology is an efficient method for exploiting residual coal resources in Chinese open-pit coal mines. However, on-site personnel and equipment can be damaged by the instability of the highwall mining residual coal pillars and subsidence of final end-walls. This paper considers the geological conditions of an open-pit mine in Shendong Coal Field (China) in order to prevent overlying rock fall accidents; the Mark-Bieniawski formula and the FLAC3D numerical simulation are used to analyse reasonable coal pillar widths outside and under the road, which were determined to be 1.7 m and 1.3 m, respectively. Using the EBH132 cantilever excavator for remote control mining, the field experiment shows that the recovery ratio of highwall residual coal resources was over 67%; hence, safety, efficiency and high recovery ratio of highwall mining were achieved for the residual coal resources of an open-pit mine.
Highlights
The slope angle, mining boundary, changes of the coal seam thickness, etc. are the main reasons that many coal resources remain under the end-walls in open-pit coal mines [1,2,3]
The reasonable coal pillar design and remote control technology for the Highwall mining (HWM) technology were studied in this paper
The EBH132 cantilever excavator is used for the mining and coaling, and the 650 belt conveyer is used for transportation
Summary
The slope angle, mining boundary, changes of the coal seam thickness, etc. are the main reasons that many coal resources remain under the end-walls in open-pit coal mines [1,2,3]. Because of the undeveloped mining technology and low economic benefits, those resources were discarded or exploited using the room and pillar method with low recovery ratios This issue causes waste of resources and introduces safety risks such as the spontaneous combustion of the coal seam, surface vegetation destruction, rock fall accidents, slope landslides and large-area collapse because of the instability of the residual. Zonal mining is commonly used in regions where only minor ground placement is permissible With this method, the main haulage and ventilation roadways are designed and excavated from the exposed position of the coal seam in the end-walls. The safe, efficient and high-recovery-ratio highwall mining was achieved for the residual coal resources of an open-pit mine
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