THE MINED-OUT SPACE OF COAL PITS: DEVELOPMENT OF CLASSIFICATION FEATURES
Kuzbass is one of the largest developed coal basins of the Russian Federation, with most of the strippable coal contained in inclined and steeply inclined coal seams. The commonly used deepening longitudinal one-board or two-board mining system contributes to the progressing rate of surface deterioration caused by both mining operations and external dumping. The land capacity in the Kemerovo Region is 3 to 4 times higher than the indicators shown by the other basins found in the country. The environmental impact can be reduced by changing the mining sequence, i.e. by using the mined-out space for overburden. If such usage is overlooked at the mine site design stage, the open-pit fields will be limited with their own overburden dumps, which may empede their further development. These solutions are designed to help eliminate the above mentioned shortcomings of the deepening mining systems. Besides, the general technical policy of coal producers includes a consistent trend for an increased share of internal dumping. The mined-out space, which was earlier considered unavailable for overburden during either the initial or actual operating period, can be efficiently utilized by way of targeted impacts. As a coal mine gets developed, the mined-out space offers spatial figures confined between two surfaces - the natural one and the man-made one. Contrary to contemporary literature sources, which are analyzed in the publication, the author’s interpretation of classification features is the first of its kind that allows for the spatial geometrical forms of sections of the mined-out space. Regularities have been identified following a statistical analysis of the technical data collected from the coal mines of the Kemerovo Region. The established regularities can help identify the spatial consistency of the geometrical forms of the mined-out space. The dependences obtained can be used for designing internal overburden dumps.