Forecasting water disaster for a coal mine under the Xiaolangdi reservoir

Xin'an coal mine, Henan Province, faces the risk of water inrush because 40% of the area of the coal mine is under the surface water of the Xiaolangdi reservoir. To forecast water disaster, an effective aquifuge and a limit of water infiltration were determined by rock-phase analysis and long term observations of surface water and groundwater. By field monitoring, as well as physical and numerical simulation experiments, we obtained data reflecting different heights of a water flow fractured zone (WFFZ) under different mining conditions, derived a formula to calculate this height and built a forecasting model with the aid of GIS. On the basis of these activities, the coal mine area was classified into three sub-areas with different potential of water inrush. In the end, our research results have been applied in and verified by industrial mining experiments at three working faces and we were able to present a successful example of coal mining under a large reservoir.