LAUSR

Abstract Coal mines have sudden, usually unexpected expulsions of gas in conjunction with coal into the mine workings. The gas is mainly consisted of methane making this so-called coal and gas outburst a major hazard affecting the safety and productivity of an underground coal mine. Several parameters affect this outburst hazard. In this study, a statistical method namely structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied to identify the relationships between the parameters affecting the coal and gas outbursts for an underground coal mine in Turkey and to analyze multiple interactions between them. The model includes main factors (mining depth, coal seam gas content and moisture content) and contributor factors (seam thickness, seam inclination and distance from fault). The results indicate that mining depth is the most efficient factor in main factors and distance from fault is the most significant contributor to outburst.