Underground Thin-Seam Coal Mining in Virginia: Executive Summary

Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research

Underground Thin-Seam Coal Mining in Virginia;
Darren Holman, Malcolm J. McPherson and Ian M. Loomis.
VCCER 99-01. 44 pp. July 1999
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Executive Summary:

Coal mining in Southwest Virginia, together with all of the economic advantage it brings to the region, is expected to decline over the next decade, unless a variable and environmmentally acceptable means can be found to extract seams of high quality coal in the thickness range of 14 to 28 inches. Developments of thin-seam mining equipment, together with research into machine guidance systems, offer new opportunities of devising mining layouts suitable for the economic extraction of such thin seams. These layouts must involve an infrastructure of transportation and ventilation routes that will permit safe and healthful conditions for personnel. The zones of major coal extraction will be completely automated and manless.

In this report, the Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research undertakes a brief overview of current technologies utilized for underground coal mining in the United States. This is followed by a review of developments in highwall mining that show promise of application in the underground mining of thin seams. Some past attempts at thin-seam mining are discussed. The more recent advances in the guidance systems used in autonomous mining machines are introduced. The state-of-the-art products of several manufacturers to address the integration of mining and continuous haulage systems are also highlighted. That background is employed in devising a conceptual mining system for the underground mining of coal seams in the 14 to 28 inch range of thickness. Most of the equipment suggested for this proposed system is already available. Furthermore, the mining and manufacturing expertise necessary for the cooperative development of such a system already exists in Virginia and its neighboring states.