Coal India aims to boost underground mining

Coal India (CIL) is to push its underground mining, according to a report from The Economic Times, as the total underground production has fallen to just 8% of the total – well behind other large coal mining countries, such as China and the US.

The decline in underground production is becoming a concern for the state-owned miner with a senior company official saying that boosting production and productivity of underground mines it’s the biggest challenge before the company.

“There is an urgent need for enhancing coal production from underground mines, its modernization and to make underground coal mining competitive in the rapidly changing economic scenarios,” the official told The Economic Times.

As an initial step, CIL is to assess the level of mechanisation at its underground mines with the aim of deploying continuous miners to boost productivity levels.

Underground mining accounts for 95% of coal production in China, 30% in the US and 25% in Australia.

Edited by Jonathan Rowland.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/mining/10072015/coal-india-aims-to-boost-underground-mining-2544/