ON THE ISSUE OF SAFE EXTRACTION OF COAL RESERVES UNDER THE BUCHACH AQUIFER

The study and analysis of the conditions for mining the Buchach aquifer for the safe extraction of coal reserves and determination of the boundary of the safe mining operations (SMO) zone and calculation of the SMO zone for coal seam c1 of the Blagodatnaya mine site by building models of spatial variables, allowed to substantiate the feasibility of using the method of spatial modeling of surfaces with numerical values of the "relief" of the coal seam roof and the base of the water-bearing horizon using the residuals function in order to obtain accurate actual indicators of the thickness of the rocks of the coal seam roof of the c1 coal seam to the base of the quicksand. The position of the previously approved in 1988 SMO zone as a result of applying the methods of building models of spatial variables was clarified, visualized and put on the mining plan. It is proved that such an approach allows for a practical possibility of objective control over the actual indicators of safe mining operations under quicksand in the conditions of Western Donbas. The study has established that the mining-geological, hydrogeological and mining-technical conditions of the 141 longwall of the c1 seam are characterized as difficult, which is due to the tendency of the roof rocks to collapse to a height of up to 0.5 m in areas of increased rock fracturing; rather low strength of the host rocks; the tendency of the roof rocks and soil to swell and swell with loss of bearing capacity, intense collapse of the layers of the immediate roof; the tendency of the rocks of the immediate and main roof to lack colmatation of cracks and their openness; the presence of a sandstone layer in the roof that has a direct outlet under the Buchach sands and has its own static water reserves; the presence of zones of change in the lithological composition of the rocks of the immediate roof. All these results contributed to the determination of the boundary of the BVGR zone of the 141 longwall with an indicator of 30 m. In the future, these results can be used to predict the limits of safe mining operations under quicksand in the Western Donbas.