The primary objective of this study was to develop soil quality indexes (SQIs) to reveal the changes in SQ during the restoration of vegetation in the reclaimed waste dumps of the Hequ open-pit coal mine. The study built an SQI evaluation model for waste dumps based on the soil management assessment framework. The total data set (TDS) consisted of nine physicochemical property indicators. The selection of the minimum data set (MDS) involved the utilization of principal component analysis (PCA) and Norm values. The SQ was comprehensively evaluated for nine indicators, taking into account the non-linear membership function and the improved Nemerow index. The findings suggested a notable disparity in the SQ between the reclaimed area and the unreclaimed area, yet the overall SQ fell short. In the TDS index system, the organic matter has the highest weight and a greater contribution to the soil quality of the waste dumps. In the MDS indicator system, the weights of organic matter and total nitrogen are both 0.5. According to Nemerow index method, the average SQIN of 5 plots is calculated to be 0.4352 ± 0.194. The average value obtained from TDS is 0.581 ± 0.236, and the average value obtained from MDS is 0.602 ± 0.351. The weighted additive method was employed to compute three SQIs, all of which yielded satisfactory outcomes. And the above evaluation methods indicate that the overall soil quality level of the waste dumps is at a moderate level. The sequence of SQ in various waste dumps was as follows: No.4_lower > No.1 > No.2 > No.3 > No.4_upper. Specifically, the non-linear membership function indicated that pH, available nitrogen (AN), available phosphorus (AP), surface moisture content (SMC), and bulk density (BD) were crucial in limiting SQIs in total waste dumps. The crucial limiting SQIs in unreclaimed areas were total phosphorus (TP) and total nitrogen (TN). This analysis demonstrates its efficacy in formulating strategies for the SQ evaluation and targeted soil reclamation plans of waste dumps.

During the mining process of Hami open-pit coal mine, a large number of cracks appeared on the ground surface near the top of the end slope, which affected the stability of the slope and the subsequent safe mining of resources. By analyzing the deformation of rock stratum, the position of weak interlayer in the slope was determined. Considering the rock mass with weak interlayer as a complete mechanical system, the mechanical model of the rock mass system with weak interlayer was established, and the evaluation index of rock failure degree before slope instability was proposed. The failure mode of slope with weak interlayer is as follows: sliding failure-cutting layer failure-tension failure. The safety factor of slope decreases first and then increases with the increase of the depth of the weak interlayer, and gradually decreases with the increase of the inclination of the weak interlayer. The pressing foot of slope can be used in landslide control of slope with weak interlayers, and the optimal pressing foot solution to ensure the safe mining of final slope coal resources was determined to be a pressing foot height of 35 m and pressing foot width of 20 m.

The prevention and control of stress relief gas have crucial influence on safety of coal mine, it is not only the inevitable requirement of safe production, but also an effective way to realize reasonable utilization of gas. Taking the 1103 working face of the Weijiadi coal mine as the background, the mining stress field was analysed by means of numerical simulation, theoretical analysis and field practice, and the control technology of stress relief gas was studied. The results showed that scope of stress relief zone drops gradually associated with an increase of distance from the roof (or floor) to the working face. Additionally, the shape of the stress relief body exhibited a ring-shaped distribution, while four corners of the goaf roof and floor underwent high permeability zones due to a deep stress relief body, where the permeability of two corners near the transportation roadway of the floor was higher. The results provided good information for W-shaped ventilation mode with two inlets and one return which was adopted in the working face. More importantly, the optimized layout of boreholes was put forward, which eventually were useful for solving the gas overrun of the working face. The technology used in 1103 working face has an attractive and practical background with other extensive applications for the prevention and control of relief gas.