By Taylor Kuykendall, Reporter - email
West Virginia's coal industry is hoping federal coal regulators will have guidelines for approving more extended-face, or deep-cut, coal mining plans as soon as spring.
West Virginia Coal Association Vice President Chris Hamilton has been advocating the use of remotely operated continuous miners with a face operation as far away as 40 feet. Though most machinery is designed to operate at that distance, Hamilton said, approval for deeper cuts have not been approved often.
Hamilton said extended cuts are safer because they require fewer moves of the mining equipment.
"Extended cut mining also prevents upwards of 50 percent of equipment moves in an underground working section, which means not only the continuous miner, but the roof bolters, the scoop operators or the shuttle cars," Hamilton said. "It's aimed at reducing the exposure a lot of the miners have to these large machines being moved around from place to place in underground working conditions."
http://www.statejournal.com/story/16651090/msha-west-virginia-miners-to-begin-piloting-extended-coal-cuts