Optimal Selection of a Longwall Mining Method for a Thin Coal Seam Working Face.

The selection of a mining method is one of the most important decisions made by mining engineers. An appropriate fully mechanized mining method is of great importance to mining design and capacity planning for thin coal seams. Therefore, the comprehensive evaluation of alternative mining methods is an important part of mining design. Several parameters should be considered in that evaluation, and the evaluation is therefore complex and must be compliant with a set of criteria. In this paper, a comprehensive method that combines two multi-criteria decision-making methods, the analytic hierarchy process and the technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution, was adopted for the evaluation. The most appropriate mining method, which involved a shearer, was then selected for panel 43101 in the Liangshuijing coal mine in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]