Research framework of theory and technology for coordinated mining of coal and its coexisted and associated strategic metal minerals

The coordinated mining of coal and its coexisted and associated minerals is a major national strategy. China’s coal measures are associated with 22 kinds of strategic metal minerals such as aluminum, uranium, iron, and gallium. They have many kinds and large resources, overlap with coal seams, and have great differences in occurrences and mining methods. The rock stratum activities and fluid migration of each mineral affect each other’s normal mining operations. Traditional coal mines only focus on coal mining, with little or no consideration on the extraction of the coexisted and associated minerals of coal measures, resulting in the waste of mineral resources. In recent years, the contradiction between coal and its coexisted and associated mineral mining has begun to draw attention in China, and the coordinated mining of coal and its coexisted and associated minerals is imminent. Aiming at all the coexisted and associated strategic metal minerals of coal measures, this study focuses on the typical and representative coal measures with bauxite and uranium to ensure the versatility of research results. The core common scientific issues that need to be solved urgently in the coordinated mining of coal and its coexisted and associated minerals are the coupling mechanism of threephase including solidliquidgas and fivefield including stress field, seepage field, chemical field, microbial field, and mining fracture field, and the superimposed influence law of rock formation activities. The key technologies that need to be overcome urgently in the coordinated mining of coal and its coexisted and associated minerals include the zoning and staggered mining technology of coordinated, collaborative and comining, the highefficiency blasting and excavation technology with vibration reduction, the water level active control technology, and the insitu reduction and mineralization treatment technology with microbial for pollutants. Aiming at the key scientific issues and key technologies of coordinated mining, the coupling mechanism of multiphase and multifield, and the superimposed influence law of rock formation activities in coordinated mining of coal and its coexisted and associated resources will be analyzed. A complete set of coordinated mining methods will be proposed. The key technologies and equipment for coordinated mining will be developed. Through the construction of all resources and whole life cycle coordinated mine planning theory of coal and its coexisted and associated minerals, the formulation of the coordinate mining technical standards, and the formation of a universal coordinated mining theory and technological system, it can ensure that the mining activities of each resource do not affect the normal mining operation of each other. This study will realize the sustainable and green coordinated mining of coal and its coexisted and associated minerals, release mineral resources, guarantee an intensive development of resources, and achieve some economic and social benefits.