Land subsidence in the area of the city of Walbrzych (SW Poland) has been a consequence of underground mining of hard coal. Exploitation of multiseam deposit took place for several 100 years and ended in the late 90'ties of the twentieth century. During this time, many buildings and constructions were affected by subsidence-related damages and new landforms including mining waste dumps have developed on the surface in a consequence of underground extraction of coal. Previous studies indicated that cumulative subsidence calculated with the empirical Knothe theory reached -22 m, whereas calculations based on results of cartographic data processing showed more than -30 m (± 3 m) pointing to insufficient reliability of traditional methods when applied in complex and complicated conditions (multiseam and steeply inclined deposits). Present-day height of manmade landforms in areas affected by subsidence reaches 63 m (± 3 m). Therefore, in the presented research, a weighted spatial regression method has been proposed for analysis and modelling of mining induced land subsidence. The study concerned the former Walbrzych coal mine area and the 1886-2009 period. The subsidence modelling has been done in geographic information systems with geographically weighted regression (GWR) method that allows for spatial variability of subsidence factors. Four, out of the analysed seven, subsidence factors were identified as significant (thickness, inclination and depth of coal levels and surface slope) and used as independent (explanatory) variables in construction of the subsidence model with the GWR method. The validated model was used to estimate subsidence in up to now unmapped areas transformed by manmade landforms. The maximum predicted subsidence in these parts for the 1886-2009 period reaches -10.5 m. In the result, a spatial representation (hybrid map) of subsidence for the entire Walbrzych coal mine has been produced.

Rock minerals such as dimension and crushed stones and sands and gravels (aggregates) are indispensable materials for the building and construction industries. The growth in demand for these resources causes intensification of mining operations (and their consequent environmental impacts) and transport problems in regions abundant in rock minerals. The balanced management of these resources by regional policy-makers is difficult as it requires, among other things, comprehensive and up-to-date information on the spatial distribution and temporal changes of available reserves, demand, production, and transport. This information can be provided by means of spatial and temporal analyses through geographic information systems (GIS). In this research, the focus is on the following aspects of rock mineral (aggregates) resources and mining management in the context of regional spatial planning in the example region of Lower Silesia in Poland: the spatial and temporal changes in distribution and intensity of mining, the availability of economic reserves in active mines, the magnitude and distribution of road transport flows of aggregates, the potential of railways as an alternative means of transport, and the valorisation of undeveloped aggregates deposits to assess their suitability for future use. For the purposes of this study, cartographic models have been developed using GIS to facilitate analyses of these mineral resources, mining, and transport. The results of these analyses provide current and comprehensive information on the state of aggregates mineral resources, production and transport in the Lower Silesia region. They also give an insight into availability of rock mineral resources for the future. Knowledge of these processes is important for spatial development planning, especially physical infrastructure, conducted by national, regional, and local governments.

Usually, substantial part of a mine haulage system is based on belt conveyors. Reliability of such system is significant in terms of mining operation continuity and profitability. Numerous methods for conveyor belt monitoring have been developed, although many of them require physical presence of the monitoring staff in the dangerous environment. In this paper, a remote sensing method for assessing a conveyor belt condition using the Terrestrial Laser Scanner (TLS) system has been described. For this purpose a methodology of semi-automatic processing of point cloud data for obtaining the belt geometry has been developed. The sample data has been collected in a test laboratory and processed with the proposed algorithms. Damaged belt surface areas have been successfully identified and edge defects were investigated. The proposed non-destructive testing methodology has been found to be suitable for monitoring the general condition of the conveyor belt and could be exceptionally successful and cost-effective if combined with an unmanned, robotic inspection system.