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Chapter II <br />The current site for disposal of coal processing waste. This facility has been in use <br />• since 1985. <br />d. Old Refuse Pile. <br />This is the area which received coal processing waste previously. It is being <br />reclaimed. <br />2. Production Methods, Equipment. <br />a. Production Methods. <br />Underground mining methods will be utilized for production of coal from two seams, <br />the B-bed (lower of the two seams) and the M-bed. <br />Mining of the coal is done by longwall, and room-and-pillar mining techniques. Both <br />advancing and retreating longwall techniques are used in the Coal Basin operations. <br />Coal is transported from the mining section to the surface via belt conveyors, <br />extending from the working face, through the Adit/Rock Tunnel, to the surface <br />portal, then overland to raw coal surface storage areas. <br />• Men and materiel are transported into and out of the mines through the Adit/Rock <br />Tunnel. <br />Longwall roof control is accomplished with shields, which protect the longwall <br />equipment. Roof in the working areas is supported primarily with roof bolts and <br />packwal-s, as well as other means, such as posts, cribs and arches. As longwall <br />mining advances or retreats, the roof is allowed to cave in the mined-out areas. <br />The mine is ventilated by large exhaust type fans, situated at the surface portals of <br />main entries located around the basin. Fresh air is drawn in through the main <br />entries, past the faces, then out the fan. <br />Raw coal is transported from the surface stockpiles to storage bins, then to the <br />preparation plant, using conveyor belts. <br />At the preparation plant, rock and refuse materials are removed from the coal by <br />gravity separation methods and froth flotation. After cleaning, the coal is thermally <br />dried and placed in clean coal storage bins, from which it is transported <br />approximately 23 miles to the unit train loadout station at Carbondale by <br />tractor-truck trailers. <br />• <br />3 <br />