Standardization of geological and geomechanical assessment at underground coal mines in Canada

Following a dialogue in the Technical Forum meetings in late 1998, a geotec hnical assessment project was established. Its objective is "to establish a 'best practice' baseline for both conducting geological and geomechanical assessments and to apply findings in geotechnical design and operation of u nderground coal mines in Canada and to make the findings readily available via computer database/Internet" It comprises three components: geological a ssessment, geomechanics baseline study and a web-based geotechnical databas e. The paper reports on the first two components of the geotechnical assess ment project. The work forged further international co-operation between th e coal industry and CANMET in Canada and NIOSH in the United States. The pa per firstly outlines the underground coal operations in Canada in the late 1990s. It then summarizes the geological assessment, followed by an applica tion of NIOSH geotechnical methodology in a Canadian geotechnical baseline study. The paper concludes with a brief summary and an indication of future direction of the work.