An analysis of the impact of mining with caving on the surface shows that a type of rock mass strata seems to be one of the critical factors affecting the process. Correlating the values of mining-induced surface deformation with the rock mass structure and the state of its disturbance is of crucial importance. Therefore, if other mining conditions are left unaffected, then those factors exert the key influence on a course and distribution of subsidence and rock mass deformation. A proper description of rock mass type and properties also seems rational for a proper determination of prediction parameters, especially in the case of a multi-seam coal mining, and/or the exploitation carried out at considerable depths. A general outcome of the study discussed in this paper is the development of the methodology and model practices for determining the rock mass type and, as a result, for selecting the optimal values of parameters for predicting the values of surface subsidence in relation to particular geological and mining conditions. The study proves that the type of rock mass may be described by such factors as the influence of overburden strata, the influence of Carboniferous layers, the disturbance of rock mass and the depth of exploitation.

Geodesic measurements of mining area deformations indicate that their description fails to be regular,

as opposed to what the predictions based on the relationships of the geometric-integral theory suggest.

The Knothe theory, most commonly applied in that case, considers such parameters as the exploitation

coefficient a and the angle of the main influences range tgβ, describing the geomechanical properties of the

medium, as well as the mining conditions. The study shows that the values of the parameters a = 0.8 and

tgβ = 2.0, most commonly adopted for the prediction of surface deformation, are not entirely adequate in

describing each and every mining situation in the analysed rock mass. Therefore, the paper aims to propose

methodology for determining the value of exploitation coefficient a, which allows to predict the values

of surface subsidence caused by underground coal mining with roof caving, depending on geological and

mining conditions. The characteristics of the analysed areas show that the following factors affect surface

subsidence: thickness of overburden, type of overburden strata, type of Carboniferous strata, rock mass

disturbance and depth of exploitation. These factors may allow to determine the exploitation coefficient a,

used in the Knothe theory for surface deformation prediction.

The article attempts to transfer information from the Point Nuisance Method (PNM) used in Poland in the issue of protection of buildings in mining areas, to the system of inference based on Bayesian formalism. For this purpose, all possible combinations occurring in PNM were selected. The number of numerically generated patterns was 6,718,464 cases. Then, based on Python package Scikit-Learn, a classification model was created in the form of the Naïve Bayes Classifier (NBC). The effectiveness of three methods used to build this type of decision-support system was analysed, from which the Categorical Multinomial Naive Bayes (CMNB) approach was finally selected. With the created classifier, its properties were verified in terms of quality of classify and generalization. For this purpose a general approach was used, analysing the level of accuracy of the model in relation to training and teaching data, and detailed, based on the analysis of the confusion matrix. Additionally, the operation of the created classifier was simulated to determine the optimal Laplace smoothing parameter α. The article ends with conclusions from the carried out calculations, in which an attempt was made to answer the question concerning potential reasons for incorrect classification of the created CMNB model. The discussion ends with a reference to the planned research, in which, among other things, the use of more complex Bayesian belief networks (BBN) is planned.

This paper presents one of the environmental problems occurring during underground mine closures: according to the underground coal mine closure programme in Germany, the behaviour of the land surface caused by flooding of the entire planned mining area – the Ruhr District – had to be addressed. It was highlighted that water drainage would need to be continuous; otherwise, water levels would rise again in the mining areas, resulting in flooding of currently highly urbanised zones. Based on the variant analysis, it was concluded that the expected uniform ground movements caused by the planned rise in the mining water levels (comprising a part of two concepts – flooding up to the level of –500 m a.s.l. and −600 m a.s.l.), in the RAG Aktiengesellschaft mines, will not result in new mining damage to traditional buildings. The analysis included calculations of the maximum land surface uplift and the most unfavourable deformation factor values on the land surface, important from the point of view of buildings and structures: tilt T, compressive strain ε– and tensile strain ε+. The impact of flooding on potential, discontinuous land surface deformation was also analysed.

The paper presents a new geotechnical solution indicating a possibility of effective building structures protection. The presented solutions enable minimization of negative effects of underground mining operations. Results of numerical modelling have been presented for an example of design of preventive ditches reducing the influence of mining operations on the ground surface. To minimize the mining damage or to reduce its reach it is reasonable to look for technical solutions, which would enable effective protection of building structures. So far authors concentrated primarily on the development of building structure protection methods to minimize the damage caused by the underground mining. The application of geotechnical methods, which could protect building structures against the mining damage, was not considered so far in scientific papers. It should be noticed that relatively few publications are directly related to those issues and there are no practical examples of effective geotechnical protection. This paper presents a geotechnical solution indicating a possibility of effective protection of building structures. The presented solutions enable minimization of negative effects of underground mining operations. Results of numerical modelling have been presented for an example of design of preventive ditches reducing the influence of mining operations on the ground surface. The calculations were carried out in the Abaqus software, based on the finite element method.