Examination of seismic records during the time interval of the Sago Mine disaster in 2006 revealed a small amplitude signal possibly associated with an event in the mine. More needs to be understood about the seismicity from mine explosions in order to properly ...

Coal mine bursts have represented a major hazard for U.S. mining operations for more than 90 years. During this time, many prevention controls have been developed and tested. This paper reviews 11 prevention control techniques. Although coal mine bursts are ...

Limestone formations in the United States can be subject to relatively high horizontal stresses owing to the existence of tectonic loading of the limestone strata. Underground limestone mines use the room-and-pillar method, in which 12- to 18-m-wide rooms ...

Although some mines use monitoring techniques to gain additional information on roof stability, this practice is usually short-term and localized to address ground conditions in a particular section or part of the mine. A methodology to assess the risk for ...

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) evaluated microseismic activity from three field sites to compare and contrast the characteristics of microseismic emissions from very different geologic, stress, and mining environments. Recently, ...

This paper presents an overview of the most significant ground control hazards facing today's mineworkers. Analysis of recent fatality investigations and accident statistics identified certain job categories, mining techniques, and geologic environments that ...

Underground stone mining is an emerging sector of the U.S. mining industry. As this expansion takes mines under deeper cover, and as more efficient mining methods are utilized, effective stone pillar design methods will become even more important. Current ...

<p>Pillar design is the first line of defense against rock falls&mdash;the greatest single safety hazard faced by underground coal miners in the United States and abroad. To help advance the state of the art in this fundamental mining science, the National ...

This research has attempted to construct the stress and convergence profiles of the pillar in order to evaluate the ultimate strength, pillar deformation modulus, visco-elastic deformation, and violent failure characteristics during longwall mining. This information ...