Best Practice Guidelines for Prevention and Control of Spontaneous Combustion

A framework for planning land use on rehabilitated coal mining land, built from a review of international and national regulatory and corporate guidance and from interviews with industry practitioners. The review found that existing guidance requires land to be returned as close as possible to its pre mining condition, while community needs are pushing rehabilitation towards alternative land uses that can sustain livelihoods.

Shallow reflection seismic surveys failed on South African collieries mainly because too little preliminary data, from vertical seismic profiles and noise spreads, was gathered before the surveys were designed. Following the field procedures set out here produces usable data for mine planning. For target depths under about 150 m, exploration drilling stays cheaper, because shot holes must be drilled below the weathered layer.