Section- 5

TECHNICAL DOCUMENT

LHCM WITH PASTE FILL TECHNOLOGY

AT
SHAMPUR-B COLLIERY, MUGMA AREA

5.1 GENERAL INFORMATION

NAME OF THE MINE: SHAMPUR- B COLLIERY

NAME OF THE AREA: MUGMA AREA
NAME OF THE COALFIELD: RANIGANJ
NAME OF THE COMPANY: EASTERN COALFIELDS LTD.
AREA OF THE MINE: The total area of Shampur-B Colliery is 552.13 Ha.
Shampur-B Colliery consists of two incline i.e. 2&7 and 5&6.

PREAMBLE

Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL), a Subsidiary of Coal India Limited (CIL) produced 45.03 Million
tonnes of coal during 2020-21. About 9.31 Million tonnes was produced from Underground (UG) mines
and balance 35.72 Million tonnes from Opencast (OC) mines. ECL has planned to enhance its
underground production to 14.30 Million tonnes by the end of (2025-26). There is huge reserve of high
grade coal locked up below surface infrastructures where depilaring with caving can not be done. To
increase UG production from such mines, ECL proposes to introduce mass production technology in
such underground mines by adoption of Continuous Miner Technology with Paste Fill Technology
(High speed backfilling).

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this Global Bid is to achieve an average annual production of 0.66 Million Te of coal
from two sets of Low height Continuous Miner Panels. One set of LHCM will be deployed for
heightening, widening and development of proposed seams. Second set of LHCM along with paste fill
will be deployed for depillaring of developed pillars.

The successful bidder shall be responsible for supply, installation, operation and supervision of
operation cum maintenance and spares management of the necessary machinery and/or equipment
required for such implementation of Continuous Miner Technology at Shampur-B underground mine
on Hiring option, following stipulated safety standard as per provisions under The Mine Act 1952 and
Rules, Regulations/ Guideline made there-under and subsequently its adoption and absorption. The
successful bidder shall also be responsible for Paste filling which shall include operation, repair and
maintenance of plant and its allied work, paste preparation, paste reticulation, transportation,
barricading, filling of goaved out area, cleaning of pipes, relocation of pipe, monitoring and Scientific
study etc.

It is proposed for heightening, widening & development of Gopinathpur seam (GP) & development of
Singhpur Middle seams (SPM) by one set LHCM and depillaring with paste fill by second set LHCM
in thirteen years.
 5.2 Details of production target is given in the Table below:-
TABLE - 1
YEAR
SEAM DIST TOTAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
A. LHCM-1 FOR HEIGHTENING & WIDENING AND DEVELOPMENT OPERATION:
HT/WD
GP - - 0.20 0.36 0.36 0.36 0.36 0.35 1.99
& DEV
SPM DEV 0.01 0.36 0.36 0.15 0.88
SPB DEV 0.21 0.36 0.18 0.75
BPTT DEV 0.18 0.10 0.28
BPTB DEV 0.26 0.36 0.62
TOTAL CM-1 - - 0.20 0.36 0.36 0.36 0.36 0.36 0.36 0.36 0.36 0.36 0.36 0.36 0.36 4.52
B. LHCM-2 FOR DEPILLARING WITH PASTE FILLING OPERATION:
GP DEP 0.15 0.30 0.30 0.30 0.30 0.30 0.18 1.83
SPM DEP 0.12 0.30 0.30 0.20 0.92
SPB DEP 0.10 0.30 0.30 0.70
TOTAL CM-2 - - - 0.15 0.30 0.30 0.30 0.30 0.30 0.30 0.30 0.30 0.30 0.30 0.30 3.45
TOTAL - - 0.20 0.51 0.66 0.66 0.66 0.66 0.66 0.66 0.66 0.66 0.66 0.66 0.66 7.97

Where,
GP : Gopinathpur Seam
SPM : Singhpur Middle Seam,
SPB : Singhpur Bottom Seam,
BPTT : Brindabanpur Top (Top) Seam,
BPTB : Brindabanpur Top (Bottom) Seam,
HT/WD : Heightening & Widening district,
DEV : Development district,
DEP : Depillaring with Pastefilling district.

5.3 Present Mine Status:

Mine Entries:
Details of the existing entries are as follow in Table no: 1. In addition to present entries one Incline no.
6 A shall be driven to access to GP seam. Access to Singhpur Middle seam (SPM) shall be done by
three no. drifts ( 1 in 4.5 / 550 m length each).

Table no: 1

Present Mine Entries

TABLE - 2
Entry Depth/Length Gradient Purpose
Incline No. 2 4.2 x 2.4m x 250m 1 in 2.5 DC, Coal evacuation and
(Surface to 5L) material transportation

Incline No. 7 3.4m x 2.3m x 150m(Surface 1 in 2.5 DC, Men transportation

to GP Top)

Drift 3.4m x 2.3m x 50m(GP Top 1 in 4 DC, Men transportation

to GP Bot)
 Incline No. 5 3.6m x 2.8m x 100m(open) 1 in 6 DC, Men transportation

Incline No. 6 3.4m x 2.3m x 100m(open) 1 in 6 DC, Coal evacuation and

material transportation

Air Shaft (W) 18m (Dia 2.6m) vertical Upcast

Air Shaft (E) 6m (Dia 2.6m) vertical Upcast

Proposed mine entries

Mine entry X-section (W x H) (m) Length (m) Gradient Purpose

Man riding,
Incline No. 6A 5.5m x 3.5m 100 m 1 in 4.5 material transport
and intake

5.4 Proposed Method of Mining:

Board and Pillar method of mining with low height Continuous Miner technology in
conjunction with paste fill technology for extraction of GP, SPM, SPB, BPTT and
BPTB seams considered for 13 years of operation. It is proposed to extract
Gopinathpur seam, Singhpur Middle seam, Singhpur Bottom, Brindabanpur Top
(Top) and Brindabanpur Top (Bottom) seams by deploying two nos. of Low Height
Continuous Miner (LHCM) with Paste Fill technology for production capacity of 0.66
Mty.

5.5 Status of Mining

At Shampur-B colliery, GP seam is being worked by two sets of Inclines i.e. Incline nos.2&7
and Incline nos. 5 & 6. This mine has old quarry at the incrop side of Gopinathpur seam. From
the quarry floor incline no. 5 & 6 has been driven. Incline no. 6 works as coal evacuation route
for eastern side of the seam and incline No. 5 works as travelling roadway for the same.

Similarly Incline No. 2 works for the coal evacuation route for the western sideof the
property and Incline No. 7 acts as travelling roadway for the said property.

Presently development work is going on in two B&P districts with deployment of 4 SDLs.
The average annual production of this mine is 75000 t.

5.6 Seams to be worked:

Gopinathpur seam is extensively developed with bord and pillar system of working, only small
patches at southern side is virgin. Developed area is having 4.2 to 4.5 m gallery width. It is
proposed to be widen the developed galleries upto 6.0 m where factor of safety of the pillars
permits. One CM shall be exclusively deployed for heightening and widening of existing
gallery and development of virgin area / seams. Another CM shall be independently utilized for
depillaring with paste filling. Southern part of the property has to be accessed by five numbers
of drivages below Khoodia River (necessary permission from DGMS is required for the
drivages).

The seam is to be accessed by existing incline and another proposed incline. After exhaustion
of Gopinathpur lower seams i.e. Singhpur Middle seam and Brindabanpur Top seam shall be
accessed by three numbers of drift (1 in 4.5 gradient, 550m length each). Singhpur Bottom seam
shall be accessed by 6 numbers of small drift from Singhpur Middle seam at two different
 patches. Brindabanpur Bottom seam shall be accessed by three numbers of small drift from
Brindabanpur Top seam.

5.7 Method of Mining / Mining System:

Introduction of mass production technology (Low Height Continuous Miner) with Pastefill
technology has been proposed for extraction of Gopinathpur, Singhpur Middle, Singhpur
Bottom seams. Tentative layout has been shown.

Two sets of Low high Continuous Miner (LHCM), face equipment along with one set of paste
filling equipment is being proposed for smooth, continuous and efficient operation. One set of
Low high Continuous Miner will be deployed for the heightening widening and development
of proposed seams. Second set of Low high Continuous Miner along with paste filling will be
deployed for the depillaring of developed pillars. Sequence of the operation of both sets is given
in Table 1.

Proper scientific study has to be carried out for the introduction of Continuous Miner with paste
fill technology.

5.8 LOCATION

Shampur-B colliery is located at a distance of about 28 km towards west from Asansol

along NH-2 in the western part of Raniganj coalfield in the district of Dhanbad, Jharkhand,
under the jurisdiction of Mugma Area of Eastern Coalfield Limited. Lease hold area of
the colliery is 552.13 ha.
It comprises two geological sub blocks mainly Lakhimata Kapasara Sector-A
and Chatabar geological block. It is bounded within the N 23o 45’ 54” to E 86o
42’ 34”.

5.9 Boundary of Shampur B colliery:

North : Grand Chord Line of Eastern Railway & Lakhimata
colliery.
South : Metamorphic / F1-F1 fault and Basantimata Colliery of
BCCL
West : Shampur A colliery/ Gopinathpur colliery & Khoodia River
East : Kapasara colliery & Mandman colliery

5.10 Accessibility:

The project area is located about 35 km east of Dhanbad. Howrah–Delhi grand chord
railway line is passing through the north boundary of the colliery.It is well connected by
rail and road.
Nearest Airport : Durgapur Airport at Andal & Kolkata Airport.
Nearest Railway Station : Kumardhubi.
Nearest Seaport : Haldia/Kolkata.
Approach by Road : 1 KM From NH2.

5.11 Area of the Project in sq.km:

Area of the project is 5.52 sq.km.

5.12 TOPOGRAPHY & DRAINAGE

The topography of the area is characterized by gently sloping surface towardssouth with
some undulations as well. The area is generally covered by soiland alluvium. On the
middle side and part of west side of the leasehold area, there is a seasonal jore named
Khoodia River which flows from west to east with its tributaries and controls the main
drainage of the property. The average elevation within the area above Mean Sea Level is
140.36 m.

5.13 Geology :

Shampur-B Colliery comprises Lakhimata Kapasara Sector-A and Chatabar geological

block.

The sequence of coal seams with their thickness and parting in the block areahas been
shown below:
TABLE - 3
Range of variation in
Seam / Parting thickness and parting Remarks
(m)
Coal (m) Parting
(m)
Shampur-III Top 6.37-8.31
Parting 2.00-
3.00
Shampur-III Bottom 3.13-4.20
Parting 21.00-
25.00
Shampur (IV) 2.73-3.15
Parting 48.00-
65.00
Bhaljuri 0.45-2.80
Parting 1.50-
4.50
Shampur-V Top 0.73-11.10
Shampur Parting 2.00-
(V) 7.00
(Thickness Shampur-V 1.00-9.47
8.75m) Bottom (Excl. Jhama)
Parting with VI Top
Parting 2.00- Comb.& VI Top Top
22.00
Shampur (VI) Shampur-VIT(T) 0.61-1.69
Top Parting 1.00-
(Thickness: 2.00
Shampur-VIT(B) 0.50-2.27
0.12-2.10m)
Parting 4.00-7.00
Shampur (VI) 0.45-1.36 Unworkable thickness in
Bottom entire leasehold area
Parting 15.00-48.00
Khudiya * 0.35-1.80
Parting 14.00-47.63
Local-0 0.30-3.35 Unworkable thickness in
Chatabar Block
Parting 1.24-47.00
Gopinathpur (IV) 1.00-9.31
Parting 11.16-32.45
Singhpur Top 0.10-1.30 Unworkable thickness in
entire mine area
Parting 3.36-24.61
Unworkable thiskness in
Chatabar block whereas
Singhpur Middle 0.25-6.35 workable thickness in
south-east part of
Lakhimata- Kapasara
Sector-A block
Parting 3.13-36.00
Singhpur Bottom 0.75-2.60
Parting 5.98-27.00
Local-1 0.14-3.56
Parting 0.83-8.70
Local-2 0.13-3.50
Parting 1.25-15.00
BrindabanpurTop
(Thickness: 2.83- BrindabanpurTop
9.45m) (Top Section) 0.13-8.65
(IncludingJhama)

Seam / Parting Range of variation in Remarks

thickness and parting
(m)
Coal (m) Parting (m)
Parting: 0.45- Parting 1.50-13.86
12.00m BrindabanpurTop
(Bottom 0.95-11.52
Section)
Parting 1.10-13.04
Brindabanpur Brindabanpur
Bottom Bottom (Top 0.85-7.85
(Thickness: 2.25- Section)
21.90m) Parting 1.20-14.67
(IncludingJhama) Brindabanpur
Bottom (Bottom 0.87-15.20
Section)
Parting 0.84-20.40
Local-3 0.15-5.84
Parting 8.20-31.59
Kalimati (B-II) Kalimati (B-II) Top 0.20-3.75
(Thickness: 0.29- Parting 1.20-9.80
7.35m
Kalimati (B-II) 0.29-3.61
Bottom
Parting 3.15-10.68
Metadih 0.60-6.79
Parting 38.13-53.90
Badjna (B-1) 0.10-0.48 Very thin in the area and
only developed in
Lakhimata - Kapasara
 (Sector-'A) Block
*Younger seams beyond Khudia seam only developed in southern part of the leaseholdarea or
Chatabar Block.

5.14 Description of coal seams proposed to be worked:

TABLE – 4

Name ofseam Mining Thickness Av. Av. Grade Av. gradient Depth Extractable Remarks
Area range Thick- (1 in …) Range Reserves
(sq.km) considered ness (m) (Mt)
(m) (m)
Gopinathpur 4.22 1.50-3.60 3.31 G-5 1 in 6 to 10-240 3.817 Extensively
1 in 20 developed
Singhpur G-7 1 in 6 to 70-200 1.799 Virgin
Middle 1.26 1.50-3.60 2.76
1 in 20
Singhpur G-7 1 in 6 to 150-220 1.509 Virgin
Bottom 1.35 1.5-2.5 1.97 1 in 15
Brindabanpur G-5 1 in 7 to 120-220 0.647 Virgin
Top (Top) 0.48 2.0-3.5 2.52 1 in 12
Brindabanpur G-5 1 in 6 to 130-230 1.580 Virgin
Top (Bottom) 0.82 2.0-3.5 4.33 1 in 8
Total 9.352

5.15 Degree of Gassiness :

The degree of gassiness of G.P seam is degree-I. Singhpur Middle and Singhpur
Bottom seams are virgin, and have been proposed to be worked. Study shall be
conducted to ascertain the degree of gassiness of the virgin seams as they are
approached.

5.16 Incubation Period :

Gopinathpur seam is extensively developed in Shampur-B Colliery, only small portion at

southern part is virgin. Singhpur Middle and Singhpur Bottom seam is virgin and
incubation period of these seams may be determined during depillaring. Incubation period
of Gopinathpur seam is generally, 18 months.
5.17 Land Requirement:

Depillaring with Paste filling method does not require land for mining purpose. However about
8.1 ha of additional land has been proposed to be acquired forlocating the Paste fill plant and
roads.
5.18 Mine Ventilation :

Presently the mine is being ventilated by two fans having capacity of 3600 cum/min at 18 mm w.g. each
installed at this ventilator would not be able to cater the proposed mechanization. So, a separate VF-
3000 fan having 280 m3/sec with 40-125 mm w.g. has been proposed to be installed for adequacy of
ventilation. However proper pressure quantity survey to be carried out for determining the adequacy
of ventilation system.
5.19 Power Supply, Illumination and Communication :

The proposed Shampur-B Colliery has been planned for a rated production capacity of 0.66 MT coal
per annum and is located in Mugma Area of ECL. Power will be supplied through a sub-station where
transformer of 11 / 3.3 KV.

5.20 Fly ash/Bottom ash transport route for PFT plant :

Fly ash/Bottom ash will be transported (distance 19 km) to the proposed paste fill plant of the
mine from Power plant via NH-2.

5.21 Environmental Control Measures :

Shampur-B is a constituent mine of Amalgamated Lakhimata, Shampur- B, Mandman & Kapasara UG

& OC within the Cluster No. 1 for which Environmental Clearance has been granted by MoEF&CC
vide letter no. J- 11015-78/2011-IA-II.(M) dated 31.03.2021.

Capacity of the amalgamated mine is 2.30 MTY in a leasehold of 1239.0 Ha and mine life of more than
25 years. Peak capacity of Shampur-B UG as proposed in this scheme is 0.66 MTY which is well within
the existing EC capacity of 2.30 MTY.

5.22 Present Mining activity

Gopinathpur seam has been extensively developed through Incline No. 5 & 6 and Incline No. 2 & 7.
This mine has old quarry at the incrop side of Gopinathpur seam. From the quarry floor incline no. 5 &
6 has been driven. Incline no. 6 works as coal evacuation route for eastern side of the seam and incline
No. 5 works as travelling roadway for the same.

Similarly Incline No. 2 works for the coal evacuation route for the western side of the property and
Incline No. 7 acts as travelling roadway for the said property.

Presently development work is going on in two B&P districts with deployment of 4 SDLs.

The surface area of the colliery is having six villages namely Markora, Gopinathpur, Churinala,
Sahebdanga, Central Laikdih and Sangmahal. One 132 kV H.T. line is also passing through the area.
As the land is not available for extraction of coal seams with caving method, ECL proposed for
deployment of continuous miner with Paste Fill technology with a production capacity of 0.66 Mty.

5.23 Backfilling

In order to prevent the surface subsidence & increase in percentage of extraction, packing of the goaf
by sand filling is the conventional method in the coal mines over the years. Due to scarcity of sand,
paste filling using pond ash/ Fly ash from thermal power plant may be suitable option with the present
continuous mining technology. However a proper scientific study has to be carried out prior to
introduction of paste fill technology.

Paste filling using Fly/Bottom Ash

Coal ash from Pit head thermal power plant can be a good substitute for sand as a stowing material. It
is fine grained, possesses pozzolanic properties, requires less water and energy for its transportation etc.

The fly ash/bottom ash shall be transported from nearby power plant to the colliery by road. Fly
ash/bottom ash will be mixed with water and binder in a mixing plant installed at the surface to make
slurry. After mixing slurry transported from surface to underground through large diameter boreholes
fitted with pipe.
As such the proposed mixture shall have the flow ability with minimum water content. Backfill mixture
will have to flow smoothly like water along the floor and will have to give proper support resistance at
the earliest.

Paste material preparation plants and cement mixing facilities shall be located both on surface and
underground. Underground operations are often limited in production scale due to the confining nature
of the mine workings but have a distinct advantage of adding backfill binder ‘just in time’ immediately
before emplacement within the stope or underground void and thereby greatly reducing the risk of a
plugged pipeline.

Preparation of paste backfill

Paste fill are prepared in paste backfill plant as shown in figure 1. It essentially has two major functional
components, namely
• De-watering
• Mixing of Bottom Ash, Binder and water
• Pumping, transportation and deposition

• De-watering

Coal ash generated from the power plant is usually discharged as dilute slurries to ash ponds.
Excess water is recovered by decantation process.

• Mixing

Mixing of the components of a paste backfill mixture is usually done at surface by continuous
mixing system or batch mixing system as per requirement before sending it to underground.
Sampling of paste is regularly carried out during mixing, in order to measure the backfill slump.
This checks the achievement of desired consistency of the backfill for pumping it under-ground.
It was observed that the time of mixing greatly affect the fluidity of the paste to be pumped, but
has very little influence on the subsequent strength development by backfill.

• Pumping, transportation and deposition

The paste fill, obtained after mixing, can be either conveyed to surface impoundments through
series of horizontal pipelines via high volume positive displacement pumps or through a
borehole to the underground voids. Typically, paste will flow under gravity at an angle greater
than 30° (angle of repose of paste). Reticulation of paste to the underground can be done either
simply by means of gravity (the least expensive system) or coupled with piston pumps. There
are at least three possible configurations for transporting paste fill from surface to the under-
ground i.e. by gravity system, by gravity and pumping system, by pumping and gravity system,

For gravity system plants, a positive displacement pump would normally be installed for
clearing line blockages and for cleaning out the pipeline. In most installations, however, this is
not possible and a positive displacement pump operates continuously to transport the paste.
Pumpability of the paste is dependent on viscosity, type of pump employed and the geometry
of the distribution system and binder content. Once, all the parameters related to transportation
of fill is determined, the paste fill can be conveyed to the underground voids according to
production rate of the mine.

Considering the production of 1000 tpd from depillaring district, 1500 cum void including
developed gallery voids has to be fill up per day. Thus, paste filling requirement would be
nearly 500 cum/shift (approx.). Considering 10% wastage, average paste filling requirement in
a shift would be 550 cum (1.1X500 cum) approx.

Water Pond Ash

(80% Fly Ash +
20% Bottom Ash)
(Expected slump)
>75%
(by weight)

Paste fill

3% to 7%
(by weight)

Binder
(OPC, bast furnace
slag etc.)

Figure 1: Schematic diagram illustrating different component of paste backfill

Materiel Property

Grain size adjustment

Pressure gradient estimate

Travel distance estimate

Plant location

Underground Plant Surface Plant

Fixed Plant Mobile Plant

Pump Pump Gravity

To underground panel

Equipment selection

Economic Evaluation

Figure 2: Flow chart depicting conceptual design of Paste Fill System