The best of ground control technology, 40 years in the making. Developments in Ground Control summarizes the objectives, methodology used, and major conclusions reached from papers presented and published in the International Conference on Ground Control in Mining (ICGCM) proceedings from 1981 to 2020. Because the subject areas of the papers published in the proceedings are so broad, ranging from accident training and coal/rock bursts to geology, pillar, multiseam mining, in situ stresses, roof falls, and roof supports to surface subsidence, the papers were grouped into 13 aggregate topics and addressed separately in 13 book chapters by 13 authors from 4 countries. These book chapters are a fresh look at the topics, providing new insights, sourcing older papers, and summarizing data. This is an enormous help for those seeking information on ground control. There were 1,795 papers in the 40 years of ICGCM proceedings in more than 40 ground control topical areas. It would certainly be very time consuming if not impossible to find the right papers of interest in a timely manner. This book makes it easy for interested people to find the progress, application, and achievements of certain techniques from the past 40 years and how they affected the field of ground control and the world mining industry, in particular, the United States. Generally speaking, most researchers tend to favor recent developments when performing a literature search, ignoring or considering old papers outdated. In contrast, over the last 40 years, most research findings for a specific topic in ICGCM received continuing attention for subsequent development or repeated citations if applications were successful.

This comprehensive technical book on highwall mining covers theory and practice coupled with practical examples and design aspects. It contains eight extensive chapters elaborating broad-spectrum functionalities of highwall mining and its operational aspects, covering world scenario, economic potential, methods of coal extraction, design methodology including empirical web pillar design, numerical modelling for stress analysis, safety factor for web pillars, panel and barrier design, small-and large-scale numerical modelling, multiple seam interaction and design, coal web pillar strength, equivalent width concept, laboratory testing, new web pillar strength formula, effect of weak bands in coal seam, slope stability, safety and ground monitoring, hazards and regulatory requirements, case examples, norms and guidelines for practice. It also summarizes the results of research carried out by the CSIR Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research (CSIR-CIMFR), India and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia on the subject. The book will equip readers in understanding the complex, multiple seam scenarios for highwall mining, and its design for maximum coal recovery from any given site with better economics, which will aid the mining companies in extracting locked-up coal following the safety norms to avoid hazards and minimise instability issues. A large number of case studies is included to illustrate the application of numerical modelling for prior estimation and viability of highwall mining operations under varying geomining conditions. The book will be of interest to professionals and academics in the field of mining engineering specifically, but will also interest civil, geomechanical and geological engineers as well as rock mechanics professionals.

This work details the findings of the 7th International Conference on Mine Planning and Equipment Selection of 1998, held in Calgary. Topics include: design and planning of surface and underground mines; geotechnical stability in surface and underground mines; and mining and the environment.