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Hybrid opencast/underground process to mine Kuzbass coal deposits
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Challenges for Development in Mining Science and Mining Industry
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 262 (2019) 012015
IOP Publishing
doi:10.1088/1755-1315/262/1/012015
1
Hybrid opencast/underground process to mine Kuzbass coal
deposits
VA Fedorin*, VYa Shakhmatov, BA Anferov and LV Kuznetsova
Federal Research Center of Coal and Coal Chemistry, Siberian Branch, Russian
Academy of Sciences, Kemerovo, Russia
E-mail: fva@icc.kemsc.ru
Abstract. Modular technological structures of mine sites adapted to hybrid coal mining
technologies in Kuzbass, protected by the Russian Federation patents are proposed. These
intangible assets are of particular value to business community focused on research and
commercialization of the results of intellectual activity. Therefore, the intellectual property can
be considered as a promising credit instrument in the scientific concept of “intellectual
underground mine of coal opencast”. High efficiency of the hybrid method for development of
coal seams exceeds the average profit in Kuzbass by 1.5 times. In the long term, the unmanned
Highwall geotechnology is considered as an intermediate stage of the hybrid mining method,
Highwall mining technology is a fully autonomous, mobile, high-performance and economic
coal mining system that allows fully mechanized underground mining at an opencast.
1. Introduction
The long-term scientific-and-technological advance in the fuel and energy complex implies the high
priority of coal mining technologies in terms of “intellectual opencast” and “intellectual mine“ concept
permitting 15–20% reduction in coal production costs thanks to more efficient management of the
intellectual property [1, 2]. So far, the present-day coal industry is distinguished for the poor scientific-
and-technological potential and low innovation activities.
In Kuzbass the coal mining industry is based on new scientific approaches and innovative
principles in construction of production facilities and structure-and-network theory to open gently
sloping coal seam deposits. In 2017 38 fully mechanized mine workings actively operated with the
coal production rate of approximately 80 Mt, viz., 2 Mt per a working in average. The modular
geotechnological process for opening and preliminary development of coal seams was employed.
Many-years experience serves the basis in development of technological solutions for autonomous
modular mine sections at operating opencasts where the combined opencast-underground mining
processes are used to extract flat-lying seams within the concept “intellectual mine at coal opencast”.
The technological solution rests on the elaborate mining-technological procedure for opening and
preliminary development of mine sections with adaptation to coal mining process at an opencast,
including a high-performance stoping face with the use of the integrated unmanned deep seam mining
(IDSM) process and a conventional complex geotechnology on extraction of coal seams of 3–5 and
more meters in thickness.
At Institute of Coal, SB RAN, the modular mining-technological structures at mine sections
adapted to hybrid coal mining technologies are developed and protected by Russian Federation patents
Challenges for Development in Mining Science and Mining Industry
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 262 (2019) 012015
IOP Publishing
doi:10.1088/1755-1315/262/1/012015
2
[3–5]. These intangible assets are intellectual property of specific value for business activities, oriented
to research and commercialization of intellectual products [6].
The research-technological grounds for the integrated development of coal deposits should be aimed
at development and modernization of complex geotechnologies with respective intellectual property
oriented to an innovation component of Patent portfolio, which cost can manifold exceed the cost of any
other property owned by a coal mining company. In this connection the intellectual property can be
considered as a perspective credit instrument in the integrated subsoil management [2].
2. Integrated deep seam mining
The authors’ research work is based on research and methodological findings of research scientists of
IPKON RAS [7], IM SB RAS [8], and NTTs-NIIOGR on the integrated geotechnological development
of coal deposits. The present research work resulted in a novel scientific concept on the complex process
of integrated in-depth exploitation of coal deposits: one of three proposed applications is protected by
Russian Federation Patent:
• the first one: open coal mining up to design depth according to the economic design criterion, the use
of available underground transport infrastructure at the final operation stage;
• the second (open-underground bench): a single high bench known as Highwall without
castigation of coal pit walls with unmanned component in integrated deep mining of coal seams and
handling of broken coal through communication systems available at the opencast;
• the third: underground mining by modular geotechnological structure at mine sections with
application available production infrastructure of a coal openpit.
In perspective long-term projects Highwall unmanned geotechnology, namely, an integrated deep
seam mining (IDSM) can be considered as a component of hybrid openpit/underground mining process.
IDSM is a completely autonomous, mobile, highly efficient and economic coal mining system allowing
the complete mechanized underground seam mining at a coal opencast.
In the coal mining industry the complex geotechnologies comprise the information on integration
of open and underground coal mining techniques in space and time, regularities in behavior of coal
pit–underground mine system in a rock mass, as well as technical, economic, ecological and
management interrelations.
The technological complex of the integrated coal mining process is considered as a combination
of functionally interrelated facilities for open and underground mining operations to fulfill the design
technological processes under restricted mining-geological conditions to realize the geotechnological
potential.
Practical application of the integrated mining process in Kuzbass is dated back to 2000-s as a
result of scientific-methodical substantiation of the complex physicotechnical geotechnology at
Institute of Coal SB RAS and technico-economic justification of investment ventures at Sibirginsky
coal open mine (Novosibirsk), Mokhovsky openpit (Baikaimsky Mine). In 2017 coal production by the
integrated mining process reached 59424 thou t or 25 % of the total coal production at Kuzbass mines
(Figure 1). 57 466 thou t fall on the underground mining and 124 560 thou t fall on open mining.
Figure 1. Annual coal production by different mining processes.
Challenges for Development in Mining Science and Mining Industry
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 262 (2019) 012015
IOP Publishing
doi:10.1088/1755-1315/262/1/012015
3
For the period from 2009 to 2017 coal production by the integrated mining process was increased
more than twofold from 27 to 59 Mt/year in Kuzbass.
The coal production by the integrated mining process in Kuzbass was analyzed with singling out
coal production by open and underground mining techniques separately, using the modular
geotechnological structure at mine sections at coal opencasts with the use of available production
infrastructure (Figure 2).
It is established that coal production at modular mine sections of coal open mines increased
approximately 2.5 times for 8 years from 11.4 to 27.4 Mt. (The coal production share by open mining
in the integrated mining process increased twofold from 15.8 to 32 Mt).
The application scope of schemes for opening and development of coal open-mine fields by
applying the modular integrated mining-technological structure embraces practically all the range of
conditions at many-years operating, new-designed and perspective open mines on flat-lying coal seams
in Kuzbass. It is of specific importance for mining at underground areas of the first order specified with
the critical overburden ratio; as the operation life of a coal mine can be notably extended with no
appreciable investments and properly-minded subsoil management. It is reasonable to use the integrated
mining technology to drain openpit fields at coal deposits with complex hydrogeological conditions; it
can be efficient at coal opencast sections where integration of mining and drainage operations is
imperative. In 2017 12 coal mining entities applied the integrated mining technology and yielded
approximately one forth of coal production in Kuzbass.
Figure 2. Structure of coal production by the integrated mining process in Kuzbass, thousand
tons per year.
Performance of the integrated mining process is higher thanks to a number of factors:
—combined use of available production infrastructure, power lines, auto- and railway lines,
substations, moto-transport fleet to handle coal, etc.;
—handling of opencast coal at conveyors of underground section of the mine, thus optimizing the
transportation performance;
—use of opencast machinery in view to lower labour intensity in overburden removal in order to
open coal seams for underground mining;
—drainage of the production seam thickness within the opencast mine field;
—opportunity to arrange internal dumps after the open mining operations are cancelled to provide
rational extraction of coal seams within a coal mining lease.
For period from 2006 to 2017 the researchers of Institute of Coal developed technical solutions on
the integrated geotechnology for comprehensive coal resource utilization, protected by 15 RF Patents
This factor is of prime significance in view to protect innovations concerning the concept “Intellectual
mine at a coal opencast” in Russia.
It is important that the integrated coal seam mining can be realized based on a production block (a
module) [9].
Challenges for Development in Mining Science and Mining Industry
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 262 (2019) 012015
IOP Publishing
doi:10.1088/1755-1315/262/1/012015
4
At the Institute of Coal SB RAS under development is the methodical approach to the consecutive
formation of mining technological models and their optimization based on the all-round analytical
data. In 2017 the principal parameters of the integrated coal mining geotechnology: production cost,
price, profit, profitability were analyzed by using the methodology for evaluation and selection of
effective technological schemes of coal seam mining under actual mining and geological conditions at
Kuzbass operating collieries. Economic and financial parameters are reported for 12 Kuzbass mining
entities with total coal production of 59 424 thou t of coking coal brands in the Table. The cost of coal
production by the integrated mining technique is averaged and equals 2286 Rub/t, coal price being
3513 Rub/t [10]. Profitability of marketed products estimated as a ratio of balance profit to current
expenditures amounts to 45%, profitability in terms of net profit is 39%.
Table 1. Economic and financial parameters of coal production by the
integrated mining technique in 2017.
Parameter Value
Marketable coal production by open/underground
mining technique, total, thou t:
Open mining
Underground mining
59424
35005
27419
Expenses on marketable product production, MRub
135843
Production cost of 1t of coal, Rub
2286
Price of 1 t of coal, Rub
3513
Marketable product, MRub
208755
Production profits, MRub
72912
Property tax, etc., MRub
11819
Pre-tax profit, MRub
61093
Profit tax, MRub
15273
Net profit, MRub
45820
Net profit, Rub/t
771
Profits margin, %
45
3. Conclusions
At Institute of Coal SB RAS the modular mining-technological structures of mine sections, adapted to
the integrated coal mining technique in Kuzbass are developed and protected by Russian Federation
Patents. These intangible assets are of specific value for business oriented to research work and
commercialization of intellectual products. Intellectual property can be considered as a perspective
credit instrument in the scope of scientific concept “intellectual mine at a coal opencast”. High
performance of the integrated technique to mine coal seams is established, the profitability exceeds 1.5
times the average profit value in Kuzbass.
References
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Challenges for Development in Mining Science and Mining Industry
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 262 (2019) 012015
IOP Publishing
doi:10.1088/1755-1315/262/1/012015
5
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