Coal India is planning to take up projects that will extract
two billion tons of premium quality coal locked up in pillars in underground
mines. If and when it manages this feat, it will directly add, at least, 10
million tons to the production figure every year.
While cutting out coal from underground mines, miners
leave out structures that act like pillars. Made up of coal, these hold up the
ceiling and prevent it from collapsing on to the miners.
CIL chairman S Narsing Rao said it is easy to
extract and transport this coal from existing mines. The infrastructure for
lifting and transporting these to power companies already exists.
“We have estimated that some two billion tons of coal
have been left out in the form of these pillars. CIL is in the process of
working out projects to extract this coal. These are expected to come up in the
next couple of years,” Rao said.
Aware of the danger of ceilings collapsing if the pillars
are taken away, Rao said, “We will use modern techniques to replace these
pillars using a process called roof-bolting. Alternatively we may dump sand
into these mines to prevent them from collapsing.”
CIL plans to analyze 3D seismic data and assess the
possibility of subsidence and take up first those projects in which possibility
of roof subsidence is minimal. But before that happens, the Director General of
Mines Safety has to give permission to extract these pillars.
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