Dewatering of Ultra-fine Coal

Conventional rehabilitation relies on lime, fertiliser and compost to build fertility and select adaptive species, which produces short term cover but rarely a self sustaining ecosystem. The work argues for treating soil microbes as part of the system, since bacteria drive nutrient cycling, organic matter breakdown and soil aggregation, and proposes conditioning plants with adapted rhizosphere bacteria on coal waste substrates.

Compares labour intensive mechanised drill and blast underground mining with capital intensive bord and pillar using continuous miners, and adds the option of substituting locally made goods for imported supplies. Input data came from two mines running both types of section under comparable geological conditions, covering worker numbers, skill profiles, cost structures and import dependence, then calibrated to industry totals to drive a socio-economic model.

Dense medium cyclones on the fine coal fraction lifted product yield well above the spiral circuit they were compared against and gave closer control of product quality. Cut point density control proved the hardest part of running the plant, medium properties being critical. Magnetic separator capacity had to match the duty, and a basement was needed to contain and recover medium spillage.