State Mining Authority

Marzena RABIASZ

The article presents the applicable legal regulations regarding the recognition of landslide hazards in open-pit mining operations and the requirements for operating a mining plant in conditions of such hazards. Definitions and criteria for classifying spaces such as deposits, excavations, and dumps to the appropriate level of landslide hazard were discussed. Particular attention was paid to the criteria related to the prediction of landslide hazard in mining excavations and on the dump of earth and rock masses. In these areas, geological and mining factors relevant to the assessment of landslide hazard were analyzed. At the same time, attention was drawn to the practice used by some mining plant managers of classifying the entire area of a mining pit or dump as a first-degree landslide hazard. It was noted that the consequence of such action may be the failure to identify areas particularly at risk of landslides, which in turn may adversely affect the safety of mining operations. An important issue discussed in the article is the tasks and responsibilities of the mining plant operation services in the event of mining plant operation under landslide hazard conditions. Due to the complex nature of this issue, attention was drawn to the issue of entrusting the identification of landslide hazards to people with extensive professional experience and knowledge in the field of mining, geological-engineering and hydrogeological issues. These people are responsible for the proper identification of landslide hazards at every stage of mining operations, which is related to the safety of the mining plant and its employees, as well as the implementation of appropriate preventive and protective measures aimed at eliminating this hazard. The article also discusses the experience of the District Mining Office in Kielce in investigating the circumstances and causes of landslides in mining plants extracting rock raw materials. Conclusions addressed to mining entrepreneurs from landslide surveys carried out as part of preventive activities in order to prevent similar events in the future were presented. 

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Marcin WĘGLARZ, Janusz CZARNECKI, Andrzej PLAZA

In 2000, Spółka Restrukturyzacji Kopalń S.A. was established, which, through the Centralny Zakład Odwodniania Kopalń (Central Mine Drainage Plant), carries out the drainage of goafs from closed mines in order to protect the active neighbouring mines against water hazards. Dewatering is carried out using stationary and deep systems. During the period of operation of the Mine Restructuring Company, in several cases, due to changes in the surroundings of the existing stationary pumping stations, favorable conditions occurred for raising the elevation and accumulating water in the excavations, which in turn led to the decision to transform the operating stationary pumping station into a deep pumping station. Changing the drainage system in these cases brought tangible results in the form of the use of modern equipment and technical solutions and eliminating the need to perform work in underground workings, which translated into improved work safety. In the article, the authors presented the characteristics of the Mine Restructuring Company and the drainage systems it operates. The content includes a comparative analysis of the basic threats that may occur during the operation of drainage systems, and the results of this analysis, proving the advantage of a deep drainage system over a stationary one in terms of operational safety. The analysis was conducted based on the company's own experience.

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Antoni WOJACZEK, Bartosz JAKÓBIŃSKI, Grzegorz GALOWY

The universality of the basic elements of the PORTAS radio communication system, which has been in operation in coal mines for over 15 years, is the basis for its continuous development and use in other mining telecommunications applications. This system uses two carrier frequencies: 2.4 GHz (Wi-Fi) and the ISM band in the 869 MHz range. In underground workings, the propagation of electromagnetic waves in the ISM band is more favorable than in the 2.4 GHz band, and power consumption is much lower. Elements of the PORTAS system are currently used, among others, in the SWAR 2 rescue radio communication system, as well as in the SYBET-PROXIMA anti-collision system, commonly used in all copper ore mines. The directions of development of the PORTAS radio communication system described in the article will concern, among others, such solutions as: material logistics, RTLS localization; SpellCom radio communication intended for speleologists and conducting rescue operations in caves, with new MiniNodes access points; FixCom radio communication, mainly using wired elements of the PORTAS radio network, e.g. in the shaft, with the new gPhon hands-free radio.

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Bogusław CIAŁKOWSKI

The currently used overlap joints of the flexible roadway support, made using double-yoke stirrups, lose approximately 50% of their initial load-bearing capacity after the first slides, which creates problems with maintaining the required cross-section of the excavation. A structural element termed a quick slide lock is described, the addition of which to the joint is intended to maintain its high initial load capacity throughout the entire slide range. The course and results of tests of the sliding characteristics of joints of straight sections of the V32 section equipped with locking prototypes, carried out in accordance with Polish standards for testing joints, as well as the results of tests of the sliding resistance of the BL32 locks themselves on the V32 section, carried out on a stand designed by the author, were presented. The test results are positive; the obtained locking resistance level on the V32 profile of 155÷165 kN when the nut is tightened with a torque of 400 Nm and of 200÷210 kN when the nut is tightened with a torque of 500 Nm is sufficient to maintain the load-bearing capacity of the currently used joints at the initial load-bearing capacity level throughout the entire sliding range. Tests of the slide characteristics of the SV32 prop using a lock, carried out in accordance with PN-G-15026 (2017), showed that the lock significantly inhibits abrupt slides, which significantly increased their average load capacity. In the next stages of the analysis, the effect of using the lock on the dynamic load-bearing capacity of flexible joints should be checked and underground tests should be carried out.  

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Tomasz RZECZYCKI

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Adam FRUŻYŃSKI

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Stefan GIERLOTKA

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