Extreme Multiple-Seam Mining in the Central Appalachian Coalfields

Details

• Personal Author:
  Mark C
• Description:
  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 unminable 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. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Coal Coal Mining Geology Mining Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Coal-mining Ground-control Ground-stability Hazards Injuries Longwall-mining Mining-industry Room-and-pillar-mining Safety-research Underground-mining
• Series:
  Mining Publications
• Publisher:
  Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc.
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  Kentucky ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 4 ; Pennsylvania ; Virginia ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  PRL - Pittsburgh Research Laboratory
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-7
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20029907
• Citation:
  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
• Contact Point Address:
  NIOSH Pittsburgh Research Laboratory, P.O. Box 18070, Pittsburgh, PA 15236
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2006
• NORA Priority Area:
  Disease and Injury: Traumatic Injuries
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  2006 SME Annual Meeting and Exhibit, March 27-29, St. Louis, Missouri, preprint 06-060
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:cc9714d66f34ed62902811f5e4d7b7e6d7b97186a0be0c30c17a2852b452859b278e23aeab6a83ce31a1139895cf9858f7135269a1791fee8ee9d49a283c7bcf
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/221161/cdc_221161_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 629.77 KB ]