Potentials of mining in remnants in polish coal mines

The requirement of rational deposit management, particularly in mined out areas, prompts the activities aimed to effectively mine scams in pillars and in remnants left because of various reasons, in remnants having small size and irregular geometry. In such cases longwall mining might cause various operational problems, making it an unviable and sometimes even an impossible task. In recent years some unconventional mining methods have been developed in coal companies in the Upper Silesia Coal Basin, in collaboration with research institutes and basing on foreign expertise. Methods which were designed for mining residual areas guarantee required safety level, viability and surface protection. The paper outlines the main objectives and the experience gathered during the mining of remnants with the use of short-front system used in several collicries in Poland: open-end system, scam 509, ZG Siltech Sp. z o.o. (chapter 1, Fig. 1-2), roadway system, scam 509, ZG Siltech Sp. z o.o. (chapter 1, Fig. 3-4); scam 507, KW S.A. KWK Marcel (chapter 4, Fig. 7), roadway with neck system, scam 405, KHW S.A. KWK Staszic (chapter 2, Fig. 5-6), short wall system, scam 405/1, JSW S.A. KWK Borynia (chapter 4, Fig. 8). The analysis of applied solutions reveals the limitations of their use, potentials for further development, their applicability in the technical, economic and work safety aspects. One of the general conclusions indicates that the need to leave some pillars in headings (coal belts, fences) might become a source of fire hazard and coal burst hazard. It is worthwhile to mention that these systems arc easy to modify in terms of their structure, mechanization of transport, mining methods and backfilling, whereby the voids might be filled with industrial waste. An obvious advantage of these solutions is that they can be effectively applied in currently operated mines as well as in mines to be closed. They can be widely used, combined, modified and extended accordingly, offering many variants and options to ensure the more effective mining of the given deposit, and in the consequence the life of the mine can be extended. Further research and experimental work is fully merited to improve the existing solutions and to develop new methods of mining residual areas, which is a formidable task both in terms of technical conditions and potential natural hazards.