The Time Duration of the Effects of Total Extraction Mining Methods on Surface Movement

Abstract

Since the 1990s, remote sensing data have been available to monitor the surface movement for long periods of time. The analysis of satellite data shows that there is still residual subsidence (i.e., with average rates of about −10 mm/year) several decades after mining longwall panels in an area. Several years after the underground infrastructure was sealed, the surface started to move upwards. In the past, it often was claimed that movement of the surface was limited in time, i.e., a few years after mining a longwall panel. This is not the case for the conditions of the Campine coal basin, Belgium. This knowledge is important when one wants to design new operations in deep coal seams, but also when planning to stop the underground mining and to seal the access to the mine.

Keywords

• longwall coal mining
• ground control
• subsidence
• uplift
• surface movement
• radar-interferometry