Gob leakage in 8 east at Lingan Colliery

The high losses of ventilation air through 8 East's gob provided a good opportunity to perform a detailed ventilation survey in which the pressure profile and air leakages were measured. Some simple assumptions were made about the leakage flows so that "equivalent resistances" of leakage corridors in the gob area could be calculated. These values lead to a better understanding of the leakage of air around the longwall district and of the consolidation and compaction which occurs in the gob. Some theories are developed to explain the large variation in the resistance of the gob corridors. The future work which will to be conducted to confirm these theories is discussed.