International GeoConference SGEM www.sgem.org Section Exploration and Mining WAYS TO IMPROVE COAL EXTRACTION OPERATIONS IN LIGNITE OPEN PITS WITHIN OLENIA BASIN, ROMANIA Assoc.Prof.Dr.Eng.Ec. GOLDAN Tudor Assoc.Prof.Dr.Eng. MORARU Roland Dr.Eng. NISTOR Marian Catalin University of Petrosani, Romania ABSTRACT Operating activities in Oltenia lignite mining are developing in mining units- especially open pits - grouped in a strip length of 124 km and a width of 8-30 km. Coal excavation is done with rotor excavators of various sizes and the haulage of mining output from the working face to storage sites is performed with belt conveyor installations. Between the employed mining methods of operation, a significant share is held by those who, in addition to transport to tailings dumps are using the transshipment to the quarry’s inner dumps. Currently extracting lignite is characterized by increasing technological level in quarries as a result of technology production and dumping lines rehabilitation, and also by infrastructure improvement. The paper presents the technical and organizational possibilities for improvements in these production units. Keywords: open pit, lignite, extraction, mining methods. INTRODUCTION The open pits were developed in the well known method in the trenches. Excavation and loading of the mined out material is done with bucket – wheel excavators type SchRs 1400 30/7. Transportation is done with conveyor belts having a width of the belt comprised in the range 400-2250 mm. Waste tailings are disposed employing dumping machines. Excavated material arising from technological fronts is transported by conveyor belts to the distribution nodes of quarries wherefrom sterile strip is distributed on belt conveyor flows and driven to dump outside or inside, while coal is distributed on one of the belt conveyor buses routed to strip and coal depot. During the lignite seam preparation period, the movement of working fronts in plan was done in a parallel system. The present preparation scheme of the deposit is fanwise, in the range in which the trench is dug in the extension of the preparation opening and the front is moving by rotating around a point located in the distribution nodes area, by changing the direction of advancement in each pit. The variant of preparation and planning work fronts is setting up a perimeter entering at one end of the perimeter and working on one front. The height and width of the bulge, respectively of the working front, depends on the excavator type used for excavation and its functional parameters. The mobile belt conveyors (in the working front) mounted on the quarry’s benches moves by slipping, following the permanent 831