Improving the Coal Recovery Rate and Productivity at Maloma Colliery (Eswatini)

• Main Authors: Manzezulu Sabelo Mdluli, 盧深樂
• Other Authors: YU,BING-SHENG
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2019
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/3eyv5r

碩士 === 國立臺北科技大學 === 資源工程研究所 === 107 === The goal of underground coal mining is to extract as much coal as possible. One of the oldest and widely adopted mining method is the room-and-pillar method which accounts for nearly 90% of underground coal mining. Due to the rise of awareness towards sustainable development and increased price competitiveness of other alternative energy sources, enhancing productivity has become a critical aspect in the coal mining industry. Several factors influence the productivity in underground mining operations, such as equipment efficiency, personnel deployment, and working conditions. Improvement in productivity results in superior and expedited extraction of coal deposits. The most effective way of improving coal recovery rates in room-and-pillar method of coal extraction is through retreat mining. However, retreat mining presents several challenges, most of them are aligned with pillar designs. Probable solutions to improving productivity of an underground mine, and the assessment of the applicability of Bieniawski’s step-by-step approach to pillar design for retreat mining at Maloma Colliery in Eswatini are scrutinized.