International Journal of Mining Science and Technology 28 (2018) 491–497

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International Journal of Mining Science and Technology

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijmst

Application of coal mine roof rating in Chinese coal mines

Wang Yongyin a,b, Taheri Abbas b,⇑, Xu Xianbi c
a
Mining College, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China
b
School of Civil Environmental and Mining Engineering, University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5005, Australia
c
Shanjaoshu Coal Mine, Guizhou Panjiang Investment Holdings Group Co., Ltd, Liupanshui 553533, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The coal mine roof rating (CMRR) is a measure of roof quality or structure competency for bedded roof
Received 23 February 2017 types typically of underground coal mines. The CMRR has been used widely in the US, South Africa,
Received in revised form 26 June 2017 Canada and Australia. In order to investigate the application of the CMRR system in Chinese coal mines,
Accepted 10 April 2018
two coal mines in China located in Panjiang Coal Field in Guizhou Province were investigated. Field data
Available online 25 April 2018
were collected which is required to calculate the CMRR value based on underground exposure. The CMRR
values of 11 locations in two coal mines were calculated. The investigations demonstrated that the
Keywords:
chance of mine roof failure is very low if the CMRR value is more than 50, given adequate support is
Coal mine roof rating
Underground mine
installed in mine. It was found that the CMRR guideline are useful to preliminarily investigate stability
Roof stability in Panjiang Coal Field mines.
Panjiang coal field Ó 2018 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of China University of Mining & Technology. This is an open
access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction In addition, laboratory tests, on the other hand, are inadequate

Roof falls continue to be one of the greatest hazards faced by
underground coal miners especially in Chinese coal mines [1–3].
Even though an individual roof fall accident could cause less inju-
ries or fatalities than gas explosion, the total fatalities or damage to
facilities caused by roof falls are more than the other type of mine
accidents [4–7]. According to the data from the website of Minerals
Council of Australia, China accounted for 51.2% of global black coal
production in 2012, however, the fatalities caused by Chinese coal
mines is three times the total of all the other countries in the world
[4]. Furthermore, in 2012, in total there were 366 roof falls caused
459 fatalities in China, respectively accounted for 47% of the total
accidents and 33.2% of the total fatalities [5].
Roof falls have been proved significantly difficulty to predict.
One of the main reason is complex geology and soft rock forma-
tions may exist in underground coal mines [8–10]. Firstly, the
structural competence of coal mine roof is greatly affected by nat-
ural weaknesses including bedding planes, fractures and small
faults. Secondly, the engineering properties of rock cannot be spec-
ified in advance with adequate precision because it varies widely
from mine to mine and even within individual coal mine. Also,
engineers require quantitative data on the strength of rock masses
for design. However, traditional geologic reports only contain few
valuable descriptive information regarding engineering properties.
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: abbas.taheri@adelaide.edu.au (A. Taheri).
because the strength of a small sample is only indirectly related
to the strength of the rock mass [1].
To address this problem, rock mass classification systems can be
implemented to quickly and reliably estimate the stability and
support requirement of underground mines [11]. The coal mine
roof rating (CMRR) is a classification system developed to investi-
gate stability of underground mines. Recently, the system has been
improved and modified [12]. In this paper, application of this sys-
tem in assessing the stability of two coal mines in China was
investigated.
2. CMRR classification system
The CMRR is a measure of roof quality or structural competency
for bedded roof types typical of underground coal mines, which
was developed by the US Bureau of Mines in 1994 to fill in the
gap between geologic characterization and engineering design
[3,8,9,13]. It was derived from the South African Council for Scien-
tific and Industrial Research’s Rock Mass Rating (RMR) system,
then it has been used in the mining and tunneling industries for
over 30 years [13–15]. CMRR is like a tremendous knowledge data-
base of an intelligent decision support system (IDSS) so that an
unskilled engineer can utilize the parameter in mine design and
production management to improve coal mine roof support and
its safety situation.
The CMRR was initially developed based on field observations at
surface highwalls and portals as well as underground air crossings

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmst.2018.04.005
2095-2686/Ó 2018 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of China University of Mining & Technology.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
492 W. Yongyin et al. / International Journal of Mining Science and Technology 28 (2018) 491–497
and roof falls [8,9,16]. Later, it is followed by a methodology devel-
oped for assessing the CMRR from drilling core to deal with limited
underground exposures [8,9,17].
The calculation of the CMRR either from underground expo-
sures or from drilling cores has been greatly simplified by the
development of a CMRR computer program [8]. Hill suggests the
following categorization of roof competency [13]:
CMRR < 45 weak roof
CMRR = 45–65 moderate roof
CMRR > 65 strong roof
A study shows that 75% of the data fell into the ‘‘weak” or ‘‘mod-
erate” categories with an average rating around 53 [13]. By con-
trast, Australian coal industry research in the late 1990s
indicated a lower average rating for longwall mines of 50, with
86% of the data falling into the ‘‘weak” or ‘‘moderate” categories
[13,18,19].
Because of the successful application of the CMRR in coal mine
design and production, the safety situation and environment of
coal mines have been greatly improved. This can be shown from
the statistics of coal mine accident during recent five years or even
longer. Especially, the fatalities decreased significantly. According
to Molinda et al., there were 790 injuries and 13 fatalities due to
roof falls in 1998 [3]. For this reason a number of the National Insti-
tute for Occupational Safety and Health ground control research
studies have concentrated on this area. Then CMRR was widely
used for a variety of purposes including roof hazard assessment,
chain pillar design and stress modeling. Thus, the overall safety
in American coal mines has improved dramatically. According to
Harris et al., during the period from 2006 to 2010, there were
only 26 fatalities from strata fall in underground coal mines in
the US [4].
The CMRR system has extensive application in the US, South
Africa, Canada and Australia [1,10]. Worldwide experience has
shown that the CMRR is a reliable, meaningful and repeatable mea-
sure of roof quality and stability. However, so far, there has been
very limited application for this method in Chinese coal mines. In
this study, stability condition of two coal mines in Panjiang coal
field in Guizhou, China has been considered to investigate the
application of the CMRR.
3. Application of CMRR in Chinese coal mines
The suitability of the CMRR categorization of roof competency
in Panjiang coal field is analyzed based on a series of data collected
from underground exposures. Panjiang coal field is rich in coal
reserves with proved reserves of 9.5 billion tons in area of 706
km2. It is one of the main coal fields in western China. Shanjiaoshu
Coal Mine and Laowuji Coal Mine are the two main mines located
in Panjiang coal field. Thus, application of the CMRR is investigated
in these two coal mines.
3.1. Studied coal mines
3.1.1. Laowuji coal mine
Laowuji Coal Mine is one of the six coal mines which belong to
Panjiang Coal and Electricity Corporation located in the Panjiang
coal field, nearby the south bank of the Tuochang River. Coal seams
Nos.3, 4, 10, 12, 14, 18, 22 and 24 are the minable coal seams which
have depths ranging between 0 to 550 m. The thickness of minable
coal seams varies from 0.7 to 26.98 m. The average total thickness
of all minable coal seams is 12.94 m. The mine started to become
productive in 1975. By 2015, its coal production had been 1.15 mil-
lion tons per year.
Coal seam No.12 is the major minable coal seam which its
thickness varies from 1.19 to 8.05 m. The depth of cover ranges
from 50 to 500 m across the reserve area. The case studies com-
prised of five locations within roadways of coal seam No.12 east
second panel. These roadways were irregular; rectangular in sec-
tion with 4.6 m wide, 2.6 m height on the left side and 3.6 m height
on the right side. The support parameters of these roadways were
U20–2500 screw steel bolts with spacing of 0.8 m in both row and
line, supplemented by 8.3 m anchor cable with row spacing of 2.4
m and line spacing of 1.6 m. Table 1 shows the information of the
coal mine.
3.1.2. Shanjiaoshu coal mine
Shanjiaoshu Coal Mine is another large mine in the area which
is located between Laowuji Coal Mine and Yueliangtian Coal Mine.
Coal seams Nos.10, 12, 15, 17, 18, 18-1, 19 and 20 are the minable
coal seams in the mine and vary from 0 to 580 m in depth. The
thickness of minable coal seams varies from 2.88 to 30.15 m. The
average thickness of all minable coal seams is 15.48 m. The mine
started to become productive in 1974 with 1.5 million tons per
year production in 2015.
Coal seam No.10 is the major minable coal seam which its
thickness varies from 0.30 to 2.58 m. The depth of cover varies
from 50 to 580 m across the reserve area. The case studies com-
prised of six locations within roadways of coal seam No.10 west
second panel. These roadways were semi-circular arch in section
with 5 m wide, 1.3 m wall height and 1.7 m arch height. The sup-
port parameters of these underground openings were M20-2470
bolts with row and line spacing of 0.7 m supplemented by 6 m
anchor cable with row spacing of 2.1 m and line spacing of 0.7 m.
Table 2 demonstrates the information.
3.2. Data collection
Fig. 1 demonstrates data collection procedure being imple-
mented to gather and organize data from these two coal mines
[1,2,8]. The information is collected by mine engineers from roof
exposures and roof falls.
3.3. Calculation of the CMRR
Calculation of the CMRR values was undertaken using the CMRR
software obtained from the website of the National Institute of
Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
Fig. 2 shows example of the results being analyzed by the soft-
ware from location1: 121215 tailgate, Laowuji Coal Mine. Tables 3
and 4 show CMRR values being calculated for Laowuji Coal Mine
and Shanjiaoshu Coal Mine respectively.
From Tables 3 and 4, it can be seen that the rating of CMRR var-
ies from 50–65. Based on Hill, if CMRR = 45–65, the roof rating is
moderate [13]. Therefore, a conclusion can be drawn that the roof
of Panjiang coal field is a moderate roof.
3.4. Comparison between the CMRR rating with roof stability condition
Through an empirical study on 37 coal mines in the US, Molinda
et al., showed that roof rock strength measured by the CMRR is the
parameter which is the most closely related to the roof fall rate [3].
The relationship between roof fall rate and the CMRR rating shows
that most of the moderate to high roof fall rates are likely to hap-
pen when CMRR  50. All the cases of CMRR  30 show moderate
to high roof fall rates. However, high roof fall rates are rare for
cases of CMRR  60.
Tables 5 and 6 demonstrate the geological condition in some
roadways along with the support system being installed and their
relative CMRR values. According to Tables 5 and 6, it can be
 W. Yongyin et al. / International Journal of Mining Science and Technology 28 (2018) 491–497 493

Table 1
A case study locations, Laowuji Coal Mine.

No. Name of roadway Panel Depth (m) Support Supplemented support

1 121215 tailgate E2 343.7 U20-2500 screw steel bolts 8.3 m length anchor cable
2 121219 tailgate E2 373.9
3 121217 tailgate E2 393.7
4 121218 tailgate E2 353.8
5 Crosscut E2 316.3

Table 2
A case study locations, Shanjiaoshu Coal Mine.

No. Name of roadway Panel Depth (m) Support Supplemented support

1 21103 tailgate W2 289.7 M20-2470 bolts 6 m length anchor cable
2 21104 tailgate W2 311.8
3 21105 tailgate W2 379.8
4 21106 tailgate W2 356.8
5 21107 tailgate W2 358.6
6 21108 tailgate W2 335.7

Fig. 1. Underground data sheet for the CMRR [1,2,8].

concluded if adequate support is installed, roof fall rate is very low
when the CMRR rating is more than 50.
The relationship between the CMRR values and stability condi-
tion of all locations being investigated in Laowuji coal mine and
Shanjiaoshu coal mine is summarized in Fig. 3.
As is noted in Fig. 3, a1 is the stable dry areas; a2 the stable wet
areas and the CMRR rating are adjusted by groundwater; a3 the dry
area where roof fall happened; and a4 the wet area where roof fall
happened and the CMRR rating is adjusted by groundwater.
It can be seen from Fig. 3 that roof fall didn’t happen when the
CMRR value is more than 60 in dry condition and more than 55 in
the presence of groundwater (i.e., the CMRR value is adjusted).
These results are in agreement with Molinda et al. [3].
4. Discussion
4.1. Analysis of rate of roof falls in China
A comparison between the CMRR values calculated in two coal
mines and stability condition of these mines shows that the CMRR
is a suitable stability indicator to investigate stability of roofs in
coal mines in Guizhou, China. In addition, the results show that
494 W. Yongyin et al. / International Journal of Mining Science and Technology 28 (2018) 491–497

According to Xu et al., in 2012, there were 366 roof falls caused

459 fatalities in China. Among them, 259 roof falls caused 313
fatalities in township-owned coal mines, 70.8% of the total roof fall
accidents and 68.2% of the total fatalities caused by roof falls.
Among them, only 57 roof falls caused 106 fatalities happened in
both local state-owned and state-owned coal mines, almost 30%
of the total casualties [5]. In general, the local state-owned and
state-owned coal mines feature with large production capacity,
high technology and equipment, while township-owned coal
mines feature with many entities, low production capacity, low
technology and equipment.
As a result, it is essential to do more research in Chinese coal
mines in various regions and ownership with variously geological
features, technology and equipment.

Fig. 2. Screen shot generated by the CMRR software for Location1: 121215 roadway 4.2. Shortcomings of the CMRR
of Laowuji Coal Mine.

Though the CMRR can handle issues of practical ground control

in Panjiang coal field, the roof condition, in general, can be charac-
terized as moderate roof. Therefore, application of the CMRR
appears to be beneficial to reduce roof fall accidents in China. It
has been confirmed by the excellent roof conditions of Panjiang
coal field where have no fatalities caused by roof falls in the inves-
tigated locations.
It is worth mentioning that this study is undertaken only on two
coal mines, and the results are not enough to make a solid and
comprehensive conclusion for the entire Chinese coal mines. In
addition, these two mines being investigated in this study are
state-owned mines, whereas, most of the roof accidents, in general,
are happened in township-owned coal mines. Therefore, it is rec-
ommended to investigate the stability condition of these mines
by the CMRR in these type of coal mines as well.
in coal industry and can evaluate the roof stability, it still has some
defects, some of which have already been highlighted [13].
Firstly and probably most significantly, it should be noted that
the current system cannot be used directly to design support mea-
sures in underground mines because the CMRR doesn’t cover the
width of roadway, the density of roof, bolts orientation (especially
for steeply inclined coal seam) and cannot predict the support
requirements [12]. Thus, the CMRR can be modified by added some
other parameters. In a study undertaken by Taheri et al., two new
parameters (i.e. width of gallery and density of overburden rock)
were added to the system and then the new system were used to
predict support requirements [12]. This work should be further
improved and validated based on case studies from China and
other countries as well.

Table 3
Rock mass properties of different units and its CMRR rating of Laowuji Coal Mine.

(a) Different units

Locality Name of Unit Width Depth Rock type Discontinuity Discontinuity Groundwater Type of underground
number roadway (m) (m) spacing (mm) type condition exposure
1 121215 tailgate 3 4.5 343.7 Sandstone Dry Link-roadway
2 0.4 348.2 Coal Dry
1 1.4 348.6 Siltstone Dry
2 121219 tailgate 2 4.7 373.9 Sandstone 20 Coal spars Dry Link-roadway
1 1.3 378.8 Siltstone Dry
3 121217 tailgate 2 4.8 393.7 Sandstone 30 Coal spars Dry Link-roadway
1 1.5 398.5 Siltstone Dry
4 121218 tailgate 3 4.3 353.8 Sandstone Dry Link-roadway
2 0.5 358.1 Coal 500 Fault Dry
1 1.4 358.6 Siltstone 900 Fault Dry
5 Crosscut 2 2.2 316.3 Coal Dry Roof fall
1 1.5 318.5 Sandstone Dry
(b) CMRR rating
Locality number Name of roadway Unit Unit rating CMRR rating Groumndwater adjustment CMRR rating
1 121215 tailgate 3 62.0 58.8 58
2 40.0
1 59.0
2 121219 tailgate 2 58.0 60.1 58.8
1 62.0
3 121217 tailgate 2 62.0 55.5 54.8
1 54.5
4 121218 tailgate 3 62.0 65.6 62.8
2 41.0
1 69.0
5 Crosscut 2 35.0 55.2 52.3
1 62.0
 W. Yongyin et al. / International Journal of Mining Science and Technology 28 (2018) 491–497 495

Table 4
Rock mass properties for different units and its CMRR rating of Shanjiaoshu Coal Mine.

(a) Different units

Locality Name of Unit Width Depth Rock type Discontinuity Discontinuity Groundwater Type of underground
number roadway (m) (m) spacing (mm) type condition exposure
1 21103 tailgate 4 2.6 286.1 Sandstone Damp Link-roadway
3 0.6 288.7 Grey siltstone Damp
2 0.4 289.3 Ferruginous siltstone Damp
1 0.3 289.7 Grey siltstone Damp
2 21104 tailgate 4 2.7 308.3 Sandstone Damp Link-roadway
3 0.4 311 Grey siltstone Damp
2 0.4 311.4 Ferruginous siltstone Damp
1 0.2 311.8 Grey siltstone Damp
3 21105 tailgate 4 2.7 376.2 Sandstone 700 Fault Damp Link-roadway
3 0.5 378.9 Grey siltstone Damp
2 0.4 379.4 Ferruginous siltstone Damp
1 0.2 379.8 Grey siltstone Damp
4 21106 tailgate 3 2.7 353.8 Sandstone Damp Link-roadway
2 0.5 358.1 Grey siltstone Damp
1 0.5 358.6 Ferruginous siltstone Damp
5 21107 tailgate 3 2.6 353.8 Sandstone Damp Link-roadway
2 0.5 358.1 Grey siltstone Damp
1 0.4 358.6 Ferruginous siltstone Damp
6 21108 tailgate 3 2.6 332.6 Sandstone Damp Link-roadway
2 0.5 335.2 Grey siltstone Damp
1 0.3 335.7 Ferruginous siltstone Damp
(b) CMRR rating
Locality number Name of roadway Unit Unit rating CMRR rating Groundwater adjustment CMRR rating
1 21103 tailgate 4 62.0 56.1 54
3 40.0
2 40.0
1 40.0
2 21104 tailgate 4 62.0 57.6 55.5
3 40.0
2 40.0
1 40.0
3 21105 tailgate 4 69.0 63.3 61.2
3 40.0
2 40.0
1 40.0
4 21106 tailgate 3 62.0 57.2 55
2 40.0
1 40.0
5 21107 tailgate 3 62.0 58 55.9
2 40.0
1 40.0
6 21108 tailgate 3 62.0 58.3 56.2
2 40.0
1 40.0

Table 5
Comparison between the CMRR rating with roof stability of roadways in Laowuji Coal Mine.

No. Name of CMRR Roof geological condition Section Support condition Stability
roadway rating condition
1 121215 58.8 Above the tailgate it is 1.4 m Irregular rectangular: 4.6 m U height on the right sidee4.55 CMRR rating with roof Stable
tailgate siltstone, then 0.4 m unminable wide, 2.6 m height on the left stability 0.8 m) supplemented by 8.3 m anchor cable
coal seam then 4.5 m sandstone side, 3.6 m height on the right with row spacing of 2.4 m and line spacing of 1.6 m
2 121219 60.1 Above the tailgate it is 1.3 m side Stable
tailgate siltstone, then 4.7 m sandstone
3 121217 55.5 Above the tailgate it is 1.5 m Stable
tailgate siltstone, then 4.8 m sandstone
4 121218 65.6 Above the tailgate it is 1.4 m Stable
tailgate siltstone, then 0.5 m unminable
coal seam, then 4.3 m sandstone
5 Crosscut 55.2 Above the tailgate it is 1.5 m Semi-circular arch in section U arch heighttand 2.5n section with 5 m wide with roof Roof fall1
sandstone, then 2.2 m coal seam with 5 m wide, 1.0 m wall height stability 0.8 m) supplemented by 8.3 m anchor cable
and 2.5 m arch height with both row and line spacing of 1.4 m

Note: Roof fall1 means the only roof fall happened during the crosscut excavation before supporting when it is across the coal seam No. 12.
496 W. Yongyin et al. / International Journal of Mining Science and Technology 28 (2018) 491–497
Table 6
Comparison between the CMRR rating with roof stability of roadways in Shanjiaoshu Coal Mine.
No. Name of CMRR Roof geological condition
roadway rating
1 21103 56.1 Above the tailgate it is 0.3 m grey
tailgate siltstone, then 0.4 m ferruginous
siltstone, 0.6 m grey siltstone and 2.6 m
sandstone
2 21104 57.6 Above the tailgate it is 0.2 m grey
tailgate siltstone, then 0.4 m ferruginous
siltstone, 0.4 m grey siltstone and 2.7 m
sandstone
3 21105 63.3 Above the tailgate it is 0.2 m grey
tailgate siltstone, then 0.4 m ferruginous
siltstone, 0.5 m grey siltstone and 2.7 m
sandstone
4 21106 57.2 Above the tailgate it is 0.5 m ferruginous
tailgate siltstone, then 0.5 m grey siltstone and
2.7 m sandstone
5 21107 58 Above the tailgate it is 0.4 m ferruginous
tailgate siltstone, then 0.5 m grey siltstone and
2.6 m sandstone
6 21108 58.3 Above the tailgate it is 0.3 m ferruginous
tailgate siltstone, then 0.5 m grey siltstone and
2.6 m sandstone
Fig. 3. Relationship between the CMRR rating and roof fall rate of the investigated
coal mines.
Secondly, the weight of the horizontal stress is too small when
calculating the CMRR value. This is mainly because the CMRR is
derived from US coal mine industry, which does not seem to expe-
rience a level of horizontal stress that is much higher than the ver-
tical stress [13]. When applying the CMRR in various regions, it is
appreciate to verify its suitability and adjust some parameters if
necessary, especially for steeply inclined coal seam where the level
of horizontal stress is very high [20].
Nevertheless, the application of the CMRR appears to be benefi-
cial, to reduce roof fall accidents in China, provided that the data
are used rationally [21].
Thus some modifications or verification should be carried out to
improve justify application of the CMRR in China.
4.3. Development and applications of CMRR
The new core procedures and computer program can further
expand the potential of the CMRR [2]. Because the CMRR has been
developed to use the data collected from drilling cores to quantify
the defects in rock mass, and then they will be translated into an
engineering rating for mine design and support selection as well
as underground exposures. Especially, analysis of longwall pillar
stability (ALPS), analysis of roof bolt system (ARBS) and other soft-
wares have demonstrated a wide usage [22–27].
Furthermore, CMRR software is a built-in interface with Auto-
CAD, which can create a CMRR layer including up to 200 locations
along with its geographic coordinates.
Section Support condition Stability
condition
Semi-circular arch in section M20-2470 bolts support both row and line Stable
with 5 m wide, 1.334 m wall (spacing 0.7 m) supplemented by 6 m anchor
height and 1.666 m arch cable with row spacing of 2.1 m and line spacing
height of 0.7 m
Stable
Stable
Stable
Stable
Stable
With the development of the CMRR and the aid of new compu-
tation tools, the future research on the CMRR system can be direc-
ted to develop a mining planning intelligent decision support
systems, and its knowledge base will be based on the CMRR
[27,28].
5. Summary
In this study, stability condition of two coal mines in Panjiang
coal field in Guizhou, China was considered to investigate the
application of CMRR system in Chinese coal mines. In doing so,
two large coal mines were selected which were Shanjiaoshu Coal
Mine and Laowuji Coal Mine which two main mines of Panjiang
coal field. The CMRR rating and roof fall rate of Laowuji Coal Mine
and Shanjiaoshu Coal Mine show that CMRR is generally well
suited to geotechnical environment of Chinese coal mines. Com-
parison the CMRR values and stability condition of different loca-
tions in mines show that roof fall doesn’t happen when CMRR
value is more than 60 in dry condition and more than 55 in the
presence of groundwater. The results demonstrated that the CMRR
is a suitable tool to investigate stability of roofs in coal mine open-
ings in Guizhou, China. It was found that in Panjiang coal field, the
roof condition can be characterized as moderate roof.
It is expected that, in China, there will be an increasing trend
which focuses on the usage of the CMRR in various regions and var-
ious ownership coal mines.
Some modifications should be added into the CMRR to improve
and expand its usage. Especially it cannot be used directly to
design support parameters.
One area for future research about the CMRR could be develop-
ing a mining planning intelligent decision support systems based
on the CMRR.
Acknowledgments
The data collection support provided by all the members who
work in the chief engineer office of Shanjiaoshu Coal Mine and Lao-
wuji Coal Mine for this paper is thankfully acknowledged. The
cooperation from the officers and staff members of Shanjiaoshu
Coal Mine and Laowuji Coal Mine for roof stability analysis is duly
acknowledged. This paper was financially supported by the Science
Foundation of Guizhou Province of China (No. 20177283), and the
 W. Yongyin et al. / International Journal of Mining Science and Technology 28 (2018) 491–497
Special Program for Academic Foster and Innovation research
of Guizhou University of China (No. 20175788), and the China
Scholarship Council.
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