Geo-disasters prediction in Chinese underground mines

Geo-disasters, particularly rockbursts, pose critical risks to underground mining due to the unpredictable evolution of fractures under high-stress conditions. This study integrates laboratory-based Acoustic Emission (AE) testing with field-scale passive seismic monitoring to develop a practical framework for early rockburst prediction. AE results indicate that at ~70% of maximum stress (σmax), a sharp drop in AE event magnitude signals a prominent shift from micro-fracturing to macro-failure. Field monitoring confirmed that a sharp increase in seismic energy (E, N) and a rapid decline in b-value (Δb) reliably precede major rockburst events. Spatial mapping of fractures revealed that the coal seam and rock pillars experience the highest stress concentrations, aligning with observed failures. Previously, the author introduced a new workflow for mapping fractures within coal/rock layers which helped in identifying risk zones (Khan et al., 2021). In this paper, an integrated and more advanced approach is introduced based on AE testing and seismic monitoring. This has been successfully applied in multiple coal mines, achieving over 90% accuracy in predicting disaster-prone zones. The strong correlation between predicted and actual rockbursts confirms its practical reliability for geo-disaster mitigation.