Department of Extraction Technologies, Rockburst and Risk Assessment

Technology of mining:

• project of cutting a coal deposit batch with all natural hazards taken into account;
• assessment of effective and economical extraction of a hard coal deposit with a longwall or alternative system;
• preparation of due diligence technical and environmental reports;
• design and selection of support reinforcement, adapted to the conditions occurring in underground mines;
• design of the support of roadway connections;
• design of large-size roadway support (functional, chamber);
• design of methods of liquidating shafts in different mining conditions; design of the technology of securing deposits in liquidated mines;
• evaluation of the state of the roadway supports;
• evaluation of the degree of corrosion of the support and estimating the load bearing capacity of the corroded support;
• design and optimization of supports (arches, shackles and accessories) used in specific conditions;
• selection of shield and individual support for the mining-geological conditions of longwall mining;
• determination of the interaction capabilities of different types of supports in one longwall working;
• defining the conditions of work of the shield support in areas of rock burst hazard occurrence;
• evaluation of the degree of the caving gobs reconsolidation and the determination of the conditions of the operation of layers residing beneath;
• forecasting the convergence and loading of gateroads;
• selection and optimization of the construction of roadside packs;
• strength analysis of constructions used in the mining industry
• and special supports;
• studies on the technical condition of vertical workings using video techniques;
• studies of the technical condition of vertical workings using rope access techniques (climbing techniques);
• examination of the quality of the bonding (bonding continuity) of mining anchors with non-destructive methods.

Mining supports:

• sesign and selection of supports for opening and preparatory excavations (drifts, longwall cross-cuts, main gates, ramps, dip headings);
• design and selection of shotcrete supports;
• design and selection of chock and rock bolt support and independent rock bolt suport;
• design and selection of historic excavations and buildings;
• design of shaft and pit suport;
• design and selection of maintenance methods for galleries located within the mining face.

The issues of rock burst hazard:

• the forecast and assessment of seismic hazard and of bursts of mining workings;
• rock mass quality assessment in terms of geomechanics and rock burst hazards with the application of empirical-analytical index methods;
• rock mass burst tendency assessment;
• analytical evaluation of stresses in the seam and surrounding rocks;
• analysis of the eligibility of seams(deposits) or their parts to the respective degrees of rock burst hazard;
• development of complex (technical) projects for the exploitation of rockburst-threatened seams;
• assessment of the risk of conducting mining works in rock burst hazard conditions;
• selection of immediate (active) and long-term (passive) rock burst prevention methods;
• designing directional hydraulic fracturing and directional blast-enhanced fracturing as methods for rock blast prevention and working protection against excess static loads in hard coal and copper ore mines;
• ad hoc consultations on the conduct of works under the conditions of particular rock burst hazards.

The issue of associated hazards:

• assessment of the state of associated hazards;
• selection of prevention for the conduct of work in the conditions of the associated hazards;
• ad hoc consultations on the issues of associated hazards.

Mining engineering:

• techniques and technologies for the modification of the properties of minerals (coal, metal ores, raw rock materials) and of rock mass for improving the safety and efficiency of operation (e.g. fracturing with hydraulic and blasting techniques);
• coal deposit destressing by means of water jet cutting in order to decrease the state of stress and increase gas permeability;
• designation of basic geo-mechanical rock mass characteristics (component states of primary and pseudo-primary stresses);
• determining basic rock mass geomechanical properties (components of geostatic stresses and combined geostatic and mining-induced stresses) using hydraulic methods (microfrac) and the overcoring method;
• engineering techniques and technologies to secure the protected underground environment (caves, historic objects, etc.);
• examination of the range of the fracture zone of a rock mass surrounding a working using the aerometric method;
• in situ testing of the permeability of coal deposits and rock strata using the hydraulic method (slug test);
• introscope tests of drilling holes;
• in situ tests of rock mass strength with a hydraulic penetrometer;
• modelling the impact of underground mining on the stability of slopes and embankments;
• trainings, instructions, lectures on the correctness of roof management in caving longwalls and cooperation between the roof and longwall support with the rock mass.