University of the Witwatersrand

School of Mining Engineering

MINN3022A

Tutorial 5

Question 1

Part a
A mine decides to introduce a longwall retreat mining system to commence the start
of its 52 week financial year and the layout of the first panel to be mined is shown
on the attached Figure 1 on Tutorial 4. Only one continuous miner is available to do
all the development, which consists of two twin road developments (maingate and
tailgate) and the face line which will be the starting position of the longwall face. The
seam height is 3m and the density of coal is 1, 6 tonnes per cubic metre. If the
continuous miner operates 17 shifts per week and each shift is 8 hours long at an
overall availability of 65%, how many weeks will it take to complete the development
if the continuous miner production rate is 180 tonnes per operating hour?

Part b

Assuming the installation of the longwall equipment takes 2 weeks,

Calculate how much coal will the longwall produce in the remaining part of
the financial year if the face operates according to the parameters:

The shearer cuts the full seam height in a bi-directional mode advancing the face at
0.9m each time it traverses the 220 m longwall face, the cutting speed of the
shearer is 10 m per minute, and at each end of the face there is a delay of
15minutes whiles support and face conveyors are pushed over for the next cut, the
face will operate for 17 shifts per week and each shift is 8 hours long and the overall
availability is 55%. Use Figure 1 on Tutorial 4. 22,08 weeks

Question 2

A retreat longwall face is planned to have a face cutting length of 225 m where the
shearer will cut in the bi-directional mode taking 0.9 m wide web along the face.
Shearer delays within the cutting system include 10 minutes at both the tailgate and
the main gate sides of the face to allow for the shearer to cut into the face to the full
depth of cut and an additional delay at the maingate of 15 minutes to check and
change picks. The shearer has an average cutting speed over the full length of the
face of 9 m/min. If the longwall available time is 18 hours/day, 6 days/week, 52
weeks/year and the overall machine utilisation is 68% and the time to remove and
reinstall the equipment on the next face is 6 weeks.
a) How long will the longwall panel have to be for the mine to have only
one longwall move per year?

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 b) Consequently calculate the tonnage if the seam height is 3m.

Solution
a) Total time available = 18 hrs/day x 6days/week x (52-6) weeks/year x 0.68
Total time available =3378 hrs/year x 60mins/hr=202 694.4 mins/year
Time to cut 2 webs = (2 x 225m/9m/min)+ (10+15)mins=75minnutes
Time to cut 1 web = 37.5mins
Number of webs cut = 202 694.4mins/year / 37.5 mins
Number of webs cut = 5405.18 4webs/year
Length of the longwall = 5405 websx 0.9m/web
Length of the longwall =4864.5m

If the face height is 3m

b) Tonnes cut by the longwall = 4864.5m x 3m x 225 m x 1.6 t/m3

Tonnes cut by the longwall =5 253 660t

Question 3

A new mine is planned to produce 7 Million tons of coal per annum working 22 days
per month and 3 shifts per day and each shift is 8 hours long from a 3m high coal
seam, using a single longwall and two continuous miner units (one dedicated to
longwall development.

Each longwall will be formed between the maingate and the tailgate and each gate will
consist of two roadways each driven to connect the main intake and main return
airways, with one set of gate roads being re-used on the next face. The panel length
including the barrier pillar is 3420m. Hint the face line is developed as a twin roadway
using mechanised bord and pillar with pillars cut in between. This is the 2nd longwall
panel to be mined i.e. there is goaf on one side of the panel currently being mined.

Certain parameters have already been set. Longwall face length is to be 256m, all
pillars in bord and pillar workings are 25m by 25m and in the longwall development the
pillars are 50m by 25m. All roadways are to be driven 7m wide. A 50m barrier will be
left between the extracted longwall panel and the main development.

The longwall and the seven road continuous miner sections will be on opposite sides
of the main development. The seven CM rodways will always be 3200m long from the
main development. The main development is an eleven-road development with 32m
by 32m pillar centres.

a) Draw a neat, large, fully labelled diagram of the mine on an A4 page. We need to
do this together online.

b) Calculate the tonnage mined by the longwall development (new maingate and
faceline) if the density of the solid coal is 1.6 tonne per cubic metre. Assume that
the CM will only cut the faceline and the maingate i.e. the maingate of the current
longwall will be re-used for the next longwall panel. Answer 310 867.2 t/month

c) Calculate the time required to develop the maingate and the faceline if the CM
advance at 34 841 t/month. Answer 8.92 months

d) Calculate the tonnage produced per month from the longwall if the shearer cuts a
1m web at 12 m per minute and takes an additional 20 minutes at the tailgate for

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 turnaround and 15 minutes at the maingate to change picks. Assume that the
availability of the longwall is 45%. Answer: The number of webs 291, 89
webs/month and 358 674.43 t/month

e) Calculate the tonnage to be mined per month from the 7-roadway continuous
miner section in order to meet the annual mine’s target. Answer =134 658.9
t/month

f) Calculate the advance required per month from the 7-roadway if the
targeted tonnage is to be mined in e) above. Answer = 20.47 months