Results are discussed for evaluation of effectiveness of the cyclic geomechanical treatment (CGT) on a Tournaisian carbonate reservoir. Analysis of laboratory experiments performed according to a special program to assess permeability changes for Tournaisian samples under cyclic changes in pore pressure is presented. The main conclusion is the positive selectivity of the CGT: an increase in permeability is observed for samples saturated with hydrocarbons (kerosene) with connate water, and maximal effect is related to the tightest samples. For water-saturated samples, the permeability decreases after the CGT. Thus, the CGT improves the drainage conditions for tight oil-saturated intervals. It is also confirmed that the CGT reduces the fracturing pressure in carbonate reservoirs. Using flow simulations on detailed sector models taking into account the results of laboratory experiments, a possible increase in well productivity index after CGT with different amplitudes of pressure variation was estimated. Results of a pilot CGT study on a well operating a Tournaisian carbonate reservoir are presented, including the interpretation of production logging and well testing. The increase in the well productivity index is estimated at 44-49 % for liquid and at 21-26 % for oil, with a more uniform inflow profile after the treatment. The results of the field experiment confirm the conclusions about the mechanisms and features of the CGT obtained from laboratory studies and flow simulations.

The paper presents the results of analyzing uranium content in man-made carbonates (scale crusts) on the territory of Ufa based on examination of 42 samples. The median uranium content in the investigated samples stands at 1.44 mg/kg, which is significantly lower than the background values (scales from the Lake Baikal water, a clarke of sedimentary carbonate rocks) and data on other settlements of the Republic of Bashkortostan. Low values of uranium content are probably associated with the effects of the three leading factors, i.e. specific subsurface geology of the territory (gypsum, limestone); types of water supply; water treatment processes for the centralized type of water supply. Spatial distribution of uranium in man-made carbonates is characterized with uniformity, which is disturbed in two cases, i.e. a change of the water supply type (from centralized to individual); and material of the vessels used for boiling the water. No significant differences were detected when comparing samples of man-made carbonates associated with different sources of water supply (the bucket and infiltration types of water intake) and the types of household filters.

Due to the constantly deteriorating environmental situation in the regions with mining enterprises, the article considers the topical issue of disposing the maximum possible volume of waste from the mining and processing of low-grade ferrous ores through the creation of an effective underground environmental geotechnology. Traditional procedure with descending mining of reserves with a caving system does not allow waste to be disposed of in a gob. The idea is to use geotechnology based on the ascending order of mining the ore body, room excavation, leaving truncated pillars, and staggered arrangement of adjacent rooms in height, which makes it possible to form containers for waste disposal in the form of a cementless backfill. The main characteristics of the proposed procedure are investigated and compared with the traditional procedure of low-grade iron ores mining. It was established that from the point of view of the complete extraction of reserves and the unit costs for the preparatory-development operations, the processes are comparable, while in terms of the mining quality, the proposed option is much more efficient. Evaluation of environmental geotechnology by the criterion of waste disposal, performed according to the proposed methodology, showed that the combination of these technical solutions ensures the placement in the formed gob from 80 to 140% of all waste generated during the mining and beneficiation of low-grade iron ores.

The issues related to improving the efficiency of automatic ventilation control systems of mines that regulate the air supply to the mine in accordance with the need are considered. During the tests of such a system in the 3RU mine of OAO Belaruskali, the shortcomings of its existing, implementation, associated with the incorrect choice of the most difficult-to-ventilate direction, were revealed. The possibilities of implementing a control strategy, in which the system automatically determines the optimal configuration of the operating modes of fans and regulators, are demonstrated. As an alternative to the implemented algorithms, it is proposed to use a fuzzy control device to account for the nonlinearity of the dependence of the input and output parameters of ventilation equipment and to set the conditions for the optimal operating mode of the system in a declarative form. To assess the effectiveness of the proposed approach, the data of simulation modeling of the current ventilation mode and the transition from one ventilation mode to another are analyzed with comparison with the actual data of the system operation. The simulation results show that the use of an upgraded control scheme for the main ventilation fan based on fuzzy logic in the implementation of automatic ventilation control systems makes it possible to eliminate the possibility of a shortage of fresh air in the regulated directions of its movement, as well as excessive power consumption of the main ventilation fan.

The research reveals that during selection of a method to increase oil recovery it is necessary to take into account rheological features of fluid movement through the formation, effect of capillary forces and heterogeneity of reservoir properties of the productive formation in thickness and along the bedding. Low-frequency wave impact, which is used to increase production in oil fields, is considered. At low-frequency impact new fractures appear and existing fractures in rocks increase in size. The greatest increase in porosity and permeability of rocks occurs at an impact frequency up to 10 Hz. Dynamics of oscillation amplitude during wave's movement in saturated porous medium is studied in the paper: essential attenuation of amplitude occurs at distance up to 1 m from borehole axis. With increase of frequency from 1 to 10 Hz the intensity of amplitude's attenuation decreases. The technology was tested on a well in Perm region (Russia). The actual permeability value was 50 % higher than the predicted value. According to the results of hydrodynamic investigations processing, it was noted that the greatest increase of permeability took place near the wellbore, while away from the wellbore axis permeability remained almost unchanged. In order to refine the mathematical model for prediction of wave impact on rock permeability it is necessary to take into account interconnection of pore space structure, change of adhesion layer, as well as to study transfer of particles during vibration.

The article considers one actual method for development coal deposits in the Kuzbass by open-underground mining. The scientific and practical advantages of the proposed method due to the use of common infrastructure of coal mine and a modular mine site (subsequently transformed into a mining and technological structure operating according to the mine – longwall scheme) are presented. Currently, a development strategy for Kuzbass until 2035 has been developed. As part of the strategy, a draft program for subsoil use is being formed in the coal industry department. The program should take into account all the positive and negative aspects associated with coal mining in cities and municipal areas and also their prospects. In the Kuznetsk coal basin, 42 mines and 52 opencast mines are mining, of which 12 enterprises use partially unified infrastructure. According to the results of open-underground mining work conducted by the laboratory of the Institute of Coal and Coal Chemistry of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Institute of Coal SB RAS), the list of sites includes favorable mining and geological conditions with incidence angles of up to 18 degrees. As open-pit coal production increases, many sites encounter such a parameter as maximum allowable (boundary) strip ratio. At the stage of preparing the feasibility study for the development of a coal deposit, this coefficient is calculated first of all, since duration of enterprise’s work and its economic component depend on it. In order to increase parameters, it is necessary to carry out transition from open works to underground. As a result, coal mine will not work at a loss, providing production with an economically disadvantageous strip ratio.

Development of equipment, which provides access to underground mineral deposits and their extraction, requires the use of all the accumulated experience and advanced scientific research in the area of mechanical rock cutting. The most important issues of using mechanical rock cutting tools are their wearability and consumption, which have an impact on technical and economic indicators of project efficiency. The paper describes Russian and foreign practices of estimating tool wear resistance, expressions to determine critical cutting speed, methods to evaluate tool consumption. It is demonstrated that wearability of mechanical tools and associated effects are to a large extent defined by rock abrasiveness. It is highlighted that in Russia the index is calculated using Baron-Kuznetsov method, which is briefly described in the paper. In many countries with a highly-developed mining industry, rock abrasiveness is estimated with a Cerchar Abrasiveness Index (CAI), recommended by the International Society for Rock Mechanics. Its description is also presented in the paper.

The article proposes a method for predicting the stress-strain state of the vertical shaft lining in saliferous rocks at the drift landing section. The paper considers the development of geomechanical processes in the saliferous rock in the landing area, the support is viewed as a two-layer medium: the inner layer is concrete, the outer layer is compensation material. With this in view, the paper solves the problem of continuum mechanics in a spatial setting, taking into account the long-term deformation of salts and the compressibility of the compensation layer. Long-term deformation of saliferous rocks is described using the viscoplastic model of salt deformation into the numerical model, and the crushable foam model to simulate the deformation of the compensation layer. This approach considers all stages of the deformation of the compensation layer material and the development of long-term deformations of saliferous rocks, which makes it possible to increase the reliability of the forecast of the stress-strain state of the vertical shaft lining.

Under conditions of the same type of oil deposits with hard-to-recover reserves in Jurassic terrigenous reservoirs of the West Siberian oil and gas province, a study was made about the influence of the geological structure features of objects and water flooding technologies on the response degree of production wells to water injection. Response degree of the wells was determined by analyzing the time series of production rates and injection volumes of injection wells with the calculation of inter-correlation function (ICF) values. It was believed that with ICF values in a given injection period of more than 0.5, production well responds to the injection. Factors that have a prevailing effect on water flooding success have been identified. Among them: effective oil-saturated thickness of the formation in production wells, relative amplitude of the self polarization of the formation in both production and injection wells, grittiness coefficient of the formation in injection wells, monthly volume of water injection and distance between wells. Methodological approach is proposed based on the application of the proposed empirical parameter of water flooding success, which involves the use of indirect data in conditions of limited information about the processes occurring in the formation at justification and selection of production wells for transferring them to injection during focal flooding, drilling of additional production and injection wells – compaction of the well grid, shutdown of injection and production wells, use of a transit wells stock, use of cyclic, non-stationary flooding in order to change the direction of filtration flows, determining the design of dual-purpose L-shaped wells (determining length of the horizontal part), limitation of flow rate in highly flooded wells with a high degree of interaction, determination of decompression zones (without injection of indicators), stagnant zones for drilling sidetracks, improving the location of production and injection wells, transferring wells from other horizons, choosing the purpose of the wells during implementation of the selective water flooding system in order to increase the efficiency of using the resource base of liquid hydrocarbons.

The paper presents results of an experimental study on strength characteristics of the rock mass as applied to the assessment of open-pit slope stability. Formulas have been obtained that describe a correlation between ultimate and residual strength of rock samples and residual shear strength along the weakening surface. A new method has been developed to calculate residual interface strength of the rock mass basing on data from the examination of small-scale monolith samples with opposing spherical indentors. A method has been proposed to estimate strength characteristics (structural weakening coefficients and internal friction angles) of the fractured near-slope rock mass. The method relies on test data from shattering small-scale monolith samples with spherical indentors, taking into ac- count contact conditions along the weakening surface, and can be applied in the field conditions. It is acceptable to use irregular-shaped samples in thetests.