Overlying strata movement rules and safety mining technology for the shallow depth seam proximity beneath a room mining goaf

Aiming at the shallow depth seam proximity beneath a room mining goaf, due to that the shallow depth seam is exploited using the longwall mining and overlain by thin bedrock and thick loose sands, many accidents are likely to occur, including roof structure instability, roof step subsidence, damages of shield supports, and the face bumps triggered by the large area roof weighting, resulting in serious threats to the safety of underground miners and equipment. This paper analyses the overlying strata movement rules for the shallow seams using the physical simulation, the 3DEC numerical simulation and the field mea- surements. The results show that, in shallow seam mining, the overburden movement forms caved zone and fractured zone, the cracks develop continuously and reach the surface with the face advancing, and the development of surface cracks generally goes through four stages. With the application of loose blast- ing of residual pillars, reasonable mining height, and roof support and management, the safe, efficient and high recovery rate mining has been achieved in the shallow depth seam proximity beneath a room min ing goal.

Applicable conditions for a classification system of aquifer-protective mining in hallow coal seams

Based on the conclusions of domestic and foreign research, we have analyzed the collapse-fall characteristics of overlying strata and the mechanism of aquifer-protective mining in shallow coal seam working faces at the Shendong Mine. We have selected the height of the water-conducting fracture zone in overlying strata as a composite index and established the applicable conditions of aquifer-protective mining in shallow coal seams with a multi-factor synthetic-index classification method. From our calculations and analyses of variance, we used factors such as the overlying strata strength, mining disturbing factors and rock integrity as related factors of the composite index. We have classified the applicable conditions of aquifer-protective mining in shallow coal seams into seven types by comparing the result of the height of water-conducting fractured zones of long-wall and short-wall working faces with the thickness of the bedrock, the thickness of the weathered zone and the size of safety coal-rock pillars. As a result, we propose the preliminary classification system of aquifer-protective mining in shallow coal seams. It can provide a theoretical guidance for safe applications of aquifer-protective mining technology in shallow coal seams under similar conditions.