Concurrent Mining and Reclamation in Coal–Grain Overlapping Regions: A Pathway to Sustainable Land Use

Underground coal mining-induced subsidence threatens farmland resources and ecological sustainability in coal–grain overlapping regions with high groundwater tables, making concurrent mining and reclamation a critical management need. Previous studies have not systematically compared the integrated effects of mining sequence, extraction method, and panel optimization on subsidence control and reclamation efficiency in such regions. This study designed six mining schemes, integrating these three technical factors to investigate spatiotemporal subsidence evolution and the performance of deep digging–shallow filling reclamation. Findings reveal that mining design synergistically regulates short-to-mid-term subsidence: deep–thin seam-first skip mining eliminates initial severe subsidence damage, while shallow-thick seam-first sequential mining induces the most severe early-stage ecological disturbance. After a full extraction of both coal seams, long-term surface damage converges to 2374 ha (1509 ha severe damage), dictated by total extracted coal volume and inherent geological conditions. Reclamation efficiency depended on earthwork availability and terrain adaptability, with the optimal scheme achieving a reclamation rate of 65.00%. The findings identify mining strategies that balance subsidence mitigation and farmland restoration, providing actionable insights for sustainable mining in high-groundwater coal–grain overlapping regions.

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Publication Details

Journal
Sustainability
Published
2026-01-26
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/su18031243
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Geotechnical and Mining Engineering
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
19.37
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article

Concurrent Mining and Reclamation in Coal–Grain Overlapping Regions: A Pathway to Sustainable Land Use

Zhanjie Feng, Ruihao Cui, Xi Zhang, Lingtong Meng et al.
1 citations
Sustainability
Geotechnical and Mining Engineering
19.37
article

Concurrent Mining and Reclamation in Coal–Grain Overlapping Regions: A Pathway to Sustainable Land Use

Zhanjie Feng, Ruihao Cui, Xi Zhang, Lingtong Meng, Zhao Hu, Zhixin Li
article en
1 citations

Abstract

Underground coal mining-induced subsidence threatens farmland resources and ecological sustainability in coal–grain overlapping regions with high groundwater tables, making concurrent mining and reclamation a critical management need. Previous studies have not systematically compared the integrated effects of mining sequence, extraction method, and panel optimization on subsidence control and reclamation efficiency in such regions. This study designed six mining schemes, integrating these three technical factors to investigate spatiotemporal subsidence evolution and the performance of deep digging–shallow filling reclamation. Findings reveal that mining design synergistically regulates short-to-mid-term subsidence: deep–thin seam-first skip mining eliminates initial severe subsidence damage, while shallow-thick seam-first sequential mining induces the most severe early-stage ecological disturbance. After a full extraction of both coal seams, long-term surface damage converges to 2374 ha (1509 ha severe damage), dictated by total extracted coal volume and inherent geological conditions. Reclamation efficiency depended on earthwork availability and terrain adaptability, with the optimal scheme achieving a reclamation rate of 65.00%. The findings identify mining strategies that balance subsidence mitigation and farmland restoration, providing actionable insights for sustainable mining in high-groundwater coal–grain overlapping regions.

SustainabilityVol. 18(3)
China University of Mining and Technology (CN), Henan Polytechnic University (CN)
Responsible consumption and production
Openalex Percentile: Top 2%
Geotechnical and Mining Engineering
19.37
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