Document Type
Conference Paper
Publication Date
1998
Abstract
Ulan had completed operations in the fIrst Open Cut area due to high stripping ratios and the presence of geological features which destroyed a significant portion of the coal in the upper part of the seam. The pit had been abandoned in 1994 and operations had moved to a new location to the north west. It was timely to investigate the possibility of recovering more of the coal seam via the use of secondary extraction methods as it could be demonstrated that it would not be viable to continue with either conventional Open Cut or Underground methods. Previous mine plans had centred around the backfilling of final voids with plant rejects and tailings, effectively precluding any further coaling in the region. In early 1995 a review of Open Cut mining plans was undertaken. As a part of this review, two regions of coal, the old pit and a section of the new resource were identified as sites for remnant coal extraction. These areas would be available with only minimal additional preparation work.
Publication Details
This conference paper was originally published as Ferguson, P, Ulan highwall project, in Aziz, N (ed), Coal 1998: Coal Operators' Conference, University of Wollongong & the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, 1998, 325-332.