ANALYSIS OF OIL SHALE HIGH-SELECTIVE MINING WITH SURFACE MINER IN ESTONIA

Surface miners (further SM) can find their natural applications in projects where drilling and blasting is prohibited or where high-selective mining of mineral seams required. Selective mining improves the quality of oil shale. Through the cutting quality the mineral resource utilisation is more effective and environmental impact is lower. The present paper introduces a highly selective oil-shale mining technology and results of an analysis on cutting and quality parameters. Size distribution and calorific value of oil shale is in dependence on cutting thickness and cutting (advance) speed. It is possible to achieve required average size of mined oil-shale particles, which was confirmed by the present investigation data. The information obtained enables specialists to improve the quality of mining works by means of fuel consumption optimisation.