Mining and mine safety laws

Basics on country situation
Deliverable no: 1
page 1 of 4
Mining and mine safety laws
For decades the methane in coal beds was considered to be a harmful component,
which hampers the increase of coal production and requires almost a half of costs for coal
production to be invested in creation of safe working conditions.
When the preliminary degassing of coal beds has become a normal procedure in coal
mining, the attitude towards methane has changed because of the possibility of its use in
boiler rooms of coal mines or at nearest thermal power stations.
Experts of coal mining and energy branches have begun to look at coal basins and
deposits not only as coal resources but as resources of natural hydrocarbon gases, where
the main component is methane. The majority of such deposits are considered as methane
and coal deposits. However methane extraction by degassing means is of secondary
meaning as it only ensures safe working conditions. Methane utilization resulting in price
decrease for coal and making it competitive is carried out not in all mines and not the whole
methane captured is used. In mines of Karaganda basin the utilization makes up about 20%.
Change of the attitude to the coal bed methane alters the purpose of researches of
methane content in coal deposits during exploration and development. The studies are
aimed now not only at accident prevention in coal production but also at estimation of
production of coal bed methane as of independent commercial mineral. The development of
coal and methane deposits involves the solution of new tasks as for determination of
characteristics of gas content of coal beds and experimental evidences of economic value of
methane as a commercial mineral as well as validation of reasonability and necessity of
calculation of its reserves in productive groups of coal beds. Solution of the stated tasks is
put into the preparation program for development of coal and methane deposits and nontraditional efficient production of coal bed methane from active mines and from worked-out
areas of closed coal mines.
Coal-bearing formations of Kazakhstan are considered to be the largest generators
and storage of methane in coal beds (non-traditional collectors), among which the most
perspective are Karaganda and Ekibastuz basins, regarded as methane and coal deposits.
The peculiarities of gases of coal strata are syngenetics of the basic mass comparing
to coal and significant predominance of metamorphogene coal gases due to regional
(geothermal) metamorphism of coal. The petrographic composition of coal also influences
the process of coal and gas development.
The study of composition of natural gases in coal deposits of the Republic of
Kazakhstan showed that these gases have the same composition as the majority of coal
deposits or magmatic horizons.
Methane is the main component of natural gases in coal deposits within the zone of
metamorphogene gases. Its content in coal beds (untouched by the processes of gas airing,
i.e. located in methane gas zones) ranges from 70% to 98%, heavy hydrocarbons make up
12-18% at the maximum in coal at the middle stage of metamorphism, trace components
include carbon dioxide, hydrogen and nitrogen with inactive gases. During industrial
production methane is generally extracted from coal beds (up to 95-98%) and its homologs
remain in coal layers due to the increased sorption.
Efficient coal mine methane extraction by means of degassing with further utilization
allows solving the following vital problems of coal-mining regions:
air protection;
Basics on country situation
Deliverable no: 1
page 2 of 4
protection of surface and ground waters;
preservation of land fertility.
According to the constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan, land and commercial
minerals contained in it (including coal mine methane) are state property. Republic of
Kazakhstan has a desire to use its commercial minerals in a reasonable and efficient way
and to carry out exploration and extraction of coal mine methane.
According to the Law of Republic of Kazakhstan No. 2828 “On mineral resources and
its development”, dated January 27, 1996 (hereinafter Law “On mineral resources”) and
other legislative acts about separate kinds of minerals – the Competent body (the Ministry of
Energy and Mineral Resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan, which has rights on
conclusion and fulfilment of the Contract) carries out the preparation and organizes tenders
on rights to implement exploration, extraction and combined exploration and extraction of
coal mine methane (commercial mineral).
The Entitlement to exploration, extraction and combined exploration and extraction is
rendered according to the Law “On mineral resources” by means of contract conclusion with
the Competent body according to the results of the tender.
In accordance with the Law “On mineral resources” and by the decision of the
commission of the Competent body (protocol No. 5 dated December 26, 2005 ) Methane and
K LLC (one of the co-founders of Kar-Metan LLC) has won the rights to explore and to
extract methane in the closed coal mines “50 Years of October Revolution” and “Maykuduk”
in Karaganda region.
Geological and industrial assessment and calculation of methane resources are
carried out in accordance with “Temporary guidelines on resources assessment and
methane calculation in coal beds of the deposits of the Republic of Kazakhstan”. The
compliance with the guidelines is obligatory for all organizations, despite of the pattern of
ownership or departmental subordination. Documentation as for calculation of methane in
coal beds as independent commercial mineral is given for consideration and approval to the
State Reserves Commission of the Geology and Mineral Resources Protection Committee of
the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Environmental Protection of the Republic of
Kazakhstan.
Documents on methane reserves calculation are given for consideration to the State
Reserves Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan three months prior to the term of
approval.
After getting the approval of reserves calculation the documents are submitted to the
Republican Geological Fund, to the corresponding territorial geological fund and to the
organization which provided the report.
According to the law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On licensing” a state license is
necessary for the following activities:
operation of mining enterprises;
gas production.
Kar-Metan LLC and Methane and K LLC obtained such license from the Committee
on State Energy Control by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources of the Republic of
Kazakhstan.
According to the Coal Mine Safety Rules approved conjointly by the order of the
Minister of Energy, Industry and Trade of the Republic of Kazakhstan No. 327 dated October
25, 2000 and by the order of the Chairman of the Emergency Situations Agency of the
Basics on country situation
Deliverable no: 1
page 3 of 4
Republic of Kazakhstan No. 235 dated October 13, 2000 and according to Art. 243
“Degassing shall be applied in gas containing coal mines where the methane content in the
air cannot be maintained in the standard limits by means of ventilation”.
As for today degassing activities during the design engineering and the operation of
coal mines are regulated in Karaganda coal basin by “Guidelines for degassing of coal mines
of the Republic of Kazakhstan approved by State Technical Supervision Committee of the
Republic of Kazakhstan on August 26, 1994 and Degassing guidance for coal mines of
Karaganda coal basin”.
This guideline is binding for all companies and persons engaged in design
engineering, construction and operation of degassing systems at coal mines.
According to the “Guidelines for degassing...” the following requirements shall be
observed during degassing activities:
gas suction equipment shall comply with safety rules and eliminate the possibility of
inflammation of the methane-air mixture;
when a consumer is using gas, the vacuum pump station must be equipped with an
advanced safety system foreseen by the degassing guidance for coal mines and the
process of gas feeding must comply with the requirements of the guidance for
design engineering and operation of CMM-fired plants;
for the preliminary degassing of mined, tapped or overworked seams the methane
concentration in the degassing pipeline must comprise not less than 25%. During
the degassing of goafs the transportation of gas with CMM content less than 25% is
allowed, if the actual air inflow through the wellhead does not exceed the permitted
value and the gas pipeline completely corresponds to the tightness requirements of
the degassing guidance for coal mines;
it is forbidden to combust the drained gas with methane content lower than 25% as
fuel for industrial plants (boilers) and that with methane content lower 50% - for
household purposes;
all assembly and repair works of degassing systems and vacuum pump stations
must be agreed with the technical director of the company. Such works must comply
with the additionally developed safety regulations;
the contingency plan shall provide for degassing equipment operation mode in
case of an emergency in the coal mine or in the degassing system;
if the methane-air mixture vented to the atmosphere inflames it is necessary to shut
down the valve at the inflow gas pipeline, to switch the flare to exhaustion, to stop
the vacuum pump, to warn the mine clerk and to act according to the contingency
plan. When stopping and starting the vacuum pump the water separator and the
vacuum pump must be vented for min. 5 minutes;
it is forbidden to stop vacuum pumps for longer than 30 minutes without written
consent of the technical director of the company (chief engineer).
On April 03, 2002 the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On the industrial safety at
the hazardous production facilities” No. 314 was adopted.
According to this Law hazardous production facilities include:
mining, exploration and drilling operations for the extraction of commercial minerals;
electric installations of all kinds used at hazardous production facilities.
Basics on country situation
Deliverable no: 1
page 4 of 4
This Law regulates legal relations in the issues of the safe operation of hazardous
production facilities and is aimed at the prevention of emergencies at hazardous production
facilities, at the readiness of companies to their containment and elimination of
consequences, at the guaranteed compensation of losses inflicted by the emergency to
natural persons, legal entities, to the environment and the state.
The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan has
developed a republican “Program of coal mining industry conversion to the international
standards” for 2007-2010.
In the course of implementation of this Program it is planned by 2010 to analyze
regulatory and other legal acts concerning the coal mining industry and to create a regulatory
system complying with the European Directives of the new pattern and with international
standards, to introduce changes to the existing state coal mining standards. 89 regulatory
documents shall be developed altogether, including:
regulatory legal act - technical regulations - 1;
state standards – 72;
amendments to standards – 4;
catalogues and classifiers of coal products - 12.
The application of the above mentioned regulatory documents by the companies shall
result in the following:
adoption of international practices in the sphere of technical regulation by the coal
mining industry;
creation of the regulatory and legal base;
competitiveness of coal products;
elimination of technical barriers in trade;
creation of conditions for the implementation of quality management and
environmental management systems according to ISO 9000 and 14000 at the
enterprises.
The implementation of the above named standards, catalogues and classifiers of coal
products shall allow in 2009 to start the development of the technical regulations for coal
mining industry and the manufacturing of safe products, to implement quality management
and environmental management systems according to the international standards.