Mining block stability analysis for room-and-pillar mining with continuous miner in estonian oil shale mines

Without progressive technology to make mining economically viable, this in-dustry, which provides a significant contribution to Estonia’s economy, can no longer exist. This paper presents a proposal for a comprehensive mining system. Determination of the pillar and roof optimum parameters for new mining technology with continuous miner was the main aim of the present work. The conventional calculation formulas and conditional thickness meth-ods were used to determine the room-and-pillar mining system parameters, which guarantee a long-term stability. The calculation methods used gave excellent results