The presence of coal and coal-bearing rocks in waste rock dumps of open-pit coal mines contributes to the occurrence of spontaneous combustions that negatively affect the environment and people. Measurements of the temperature and the content of hazardous gases in the temperature anomaly that arose in the waste rock dump of the open-pit coal mine were made to assess the parameters of spontaneous fire seats. In the course of the study, the efficiency of detecting spontaneous fire seats in waste rock dumps was assessed by measuring the rock temperature in the wells with a depth of 2.5 m, drilled at a distance of 20 m from each other. The experiment showed the difficulty of drilling control wells in waste rock dumps and the impossibility of drilling them on the slopes of dumps, especially in spontaneous fire seats with a high rock temperature. The necessity of casing control wells with pipes makes it difficult to measure the rock temperature at different depths. It was found that there are sharp drops in the rock temperature in the heated area of the dump, which cannot be detected when the wells are located at the recommended distance. The measurements showed that in all wells the temperature increases with depth, therefore the depth of wells recommended by the regulatory documents does not allow determining the size of the heated area.

Rock dumps of coal mining and coal processing enterprises contain coal, which is capable to absorbing oxygen to generate heat. Under favorable conditions, the heat generated is sufficient to increase the rock temperature and to form spontaneous fire seats. At the same time, coal-bearing rocks emit combustible and toxic gases generated during the coal decay and the oxidation of combustible elements. To assess the possibility of the development of spontaneous ignition processes in the coal-bearing rock agglomerates that were exposed to air for a long time, the samples were taken, the constant oxygen sorption rate and the duration of the spontaneous ignition incubation period were determined. Sampling was carried out on the surface of two dumps of the open pits, as well as at different depths of the slimepit of the processing plant, which were not in operation for decades. The experiment allowed to determine the concentration and intensity of the evolution of various gases from the coal-bearing rocks at natural ambient temperature. The uneven sorption activity of the rocks on the surface of dumps contributes to forming spontaneous fire seats in the areas that are most liable to this. In addition, rock dumps for decades continue to emit methane and carbon monoxide into the atmosphere at the natural temperature of the rocks, which negatively affects the surrounding nature. In the sludge settling tank, not operated for about 60 years, the sorption activity of the sludge in relation to oxygen changes not only on the surface, but also at different depths of the settling tank. The revealed features of long-term storage of coal-bearing rocks in the dumps and slimepits should be taken into account when choosing the technologies for coal mining and processing, as well as storage of the overburden rocks and processing wastes.

The formed rock dumps of sections, mines and washing plants are composed of carbonaceous rocks and are capable of spontaneous combustion when the required amount of air is supplied. The conducted studies evaluated the efficiency of detecting a center of spontaneous combustion at the rock dumps of sections by measuring the temperature of rocks in the wells with a depth of 2.5 m, drilled at the distance of 20 m from each other, according to the current normative documents. For the landfill, a dump site with a long-existing center of spontaneous combustion was selected. The experiment showed the impossibility of drilling wells on the slopes of the dumps, as well as the need for casing the wells with pipes along the entire length. The temperature of rocks in the wells at a depth of 2.5 m varied from 69 to 773 °C. It was found that in the heated zone there are sharp temperature drops in the rocks, which cannot be detected with an interval between the measurement points equal to 20 m. With such a distance between the control wells, the places with a diameter of 1–10 m may remain undetected at the initial stage of spontaneous combustion. Measurements showed that in all the wells the rock temperature increases with depth. At the same time, the recommended well depth of 2.5 m does not allow determining the size of the heated zone deep into the rock dump. The upper layer of rocks above the center of spontaneous combustion exceeds the ambient temperature, so remote temperature measuring devices can be used to detect endogenous fires in the rock dumps. The use of thermal imagers installed on the unmanned aerial vehicles will significantly reduce the cost of detecting spontaneous combustion centers on the rock dumps and increase the efficiency of detecting fire centers not only on the dump sites, but on the slopes of the dump side and in other hard-to-reach places. Moreover, with a decrease in the atmospheric air temperature, the efficiency of remote thermal photography does not decrease. To clarify the parameters of the center of endogenous fires, it is advisable to use the temperature measurement of rocks with a contact thermometer at a depth of 0.5 m.