Home – Home – Jornals – Contemporary Problems of Ecology 2019 number 3

The article states primary approaches to analyzing problems of regional management, identifies economic interests of economics agents in regions and conflicts of regional reproduction and possibilities of considering them in strategic management. We base our research on the reproductive approach and a new matrix of institutional structures’ interests used for examining economic contradictions among subjects of regional and municipal economy, as well as justifying possible impacts of management activities on the processes of regional development. Using the socio-economic interest matrix, we have uncovered the key challenges and contradictions of socio-economic development that emerged at a meeting point for the interests of various institutional structures. Resolving conflicts between the interests and capacities of socio-economic structures and attaining the desired goals comprise the subject of strategic management. The article determines that differences in economic interests among regional reproduction subjects are of objective nature. Being a reproductive system, any region is a set of interacting structures - agents of socio-economic activity, which include federal structures representing public authorities, interregional structures (associations, networks of regions), and regional structure (local authorities managing regional socio-economic development, business structures, public organizations, etc.). We identify main contradictions in the regional reproduction process and propose methodological approaches to their solution. It is shown that the conflict of interest among subjects is based on the scantiness of regional resources: land, energy, infrastructure, labor, and finance. We examine the role of strategic management in preventing and resolving conflict of economic interest of various structures within the regional reproduction process and achieving equity. The research results may be used to draft guidelines for federal and regional authorities on improving legal framework of strategic management with regard to the economic interests of regional reproduction subjects and conflicts among them.

The article analyzes large-scale railway projects, namely Sakhalin - Mainland, Lena - Kamchatka, and Transpolar mainlines, planned in the long term to be launched in Siberia and the Far East. We apply methods of system analysis and expert-based technologies for assessing their comparative social effectiveness in order to establish projects’ priority ranking in different contrasting scenarios for the development of economy and society in Russia. To support investment decision-making procedures, we use local computer programs developed at the Institute of Economics and Industrial Engineering SB RAS and Siberian Transport University. The article presents and comments on the results of experimental calculations made with this software.

The article discusses the role of small innovative enterprises (SIEs) in the Strategy for Science and Technology Development of the Russian Federation. The research objective is to identify trends and spatial features of the SIE development during the period 2007-2017 and assess the measures of state support for this segment of the national economy. In accordance with the task set, we diagnose the dynamics of the main SIEs condition indicators in various constituent entities of the federation while relying on the data forms of federal statistical observation No. 2-МП (innovation) «Information on Technological Innovations of a Small Enterprise». Different combinations of changes in statistical reporting indicators help estimate the baseline conditions in the region for the development of small innovative enterprises during the next forecast period. The presented analysis confirms that innovation activity has decreased in the field of SIEs and indicates a significant divergence of trends at the regional level. It is shown that the procedures implemented by the Federal Corporation for SMEs have not had a sufficient stimulating effect on the development of small innovative businesses. We examine the data of the draft passport of the national program «Small and medium-sized businesses and support for individual entrepreneurial initiatives» and make proposals to expand SIE support measures.

High investment climate quality is an important factor for the economic development of regions. An investment climate is largely determined by institutions that form the conditions for doing business within the boundaries of territorial formation. Numerous studies show that institutional quality has a significant effect on indicators of investment activity, and the influence of institutions at the regional level is significant. The paper contains an empirical study of the quality of institutions that create investment climate in nine regions of Russia. The author identifies some key institutional problems preventing investment in the regions based on the series of polls and structured interviews with investors and government officials. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of the Regional Investment Standard (RIS) implementation practice, where, since 2012, a package of reforms has been introduced in all Russian regions to create favorable conditions for investment activities. The study shows that the most important result of this package of reforms is lower administrative barriers for investors. However, the RIS does not yet have any positive impact on the level of investors ’ rights protection, does not create the necessary tax incentives for investment projects, nor does it imply establishing institutions to consider regional specificities. A part of the reforms ’ implementation problems is also due to the lack of motivation among local authorities.

The paper identifies the factors that affect the success of car sharing companies. At present, Russian car sharing market is highly competitive and companies must invest a lot in factors that will ensure their development and growth. A scarcity of research on Russian car sharing makes the topic relevant and creates the need for studies that take into account the specifics of the business in Russia. Having assessed the practices of other countries presented in foreign literature and the industry in Russia, we put forward two main hypotheses: the success of car sharing expressed in the number of clients will be affected by 1) service availability and 2) its value for money. An econometric analysis partially confirms each of the hypotheses. It turns out that among the positive effects on the number of customers are such features as the quantity of cars available for rent, the presence of the service in both Moscow and St. Petersburg at the same time, as well as the number of airports in the service area, while the price increase has a negative impact. The results of the study allow providing recommendations for car sharing services.

The article studies tax revenues of the consolidated budgets in constituent entities (subjects) of the Russian Federation and their determinants. The purpose of the current research is to assess how much various economic sectors contribute to incremental tax revenue growth in the sub-federal budgets of Russian subjects and their factorial decomposition. In order to complete this goal, we develop a four-factor additive-multiplicative model of tax revenues generation in regions. Within this model, tax revenues at the sectoral level of region are determined by the sector’s share in the regional economy (structural factor), its tax burden (fiscal factor), the level of tax revenues internal absorption in the economy (inter-budgetary factor), and the size of gross regional product (factor of scale). To assess the contribution of these factors in the regions and in the country at the aggregated and disaggregated levels, we use a mixed factor analysis including proportional, logarithmic, and integral methods. The study reveals that the largest contributors to incremental tax revenue growth in the consolidated sub-federal budgets of Russian subjects have been the five largest regions, as well as import-export: manufacturing industries, joint financial activities and real estate transactions, trade and mining. Changes in tax burden and internal absorption have, on average, decreased tax revenue inflow to the budgets in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, whereas growing GRP and altering sectoral structure increased them. The difference in the influence of these factors at the aggregated (national) and disaggregated (average regional) levels is explained by the levels of their interregional inequality. The results of the study are applicable to assessing potential tax revenues in regions, taking into account a possibility to manage their determinants.

The article considers the main features of the economic crises of1998, 2009, and 2015, and analyzes the dynamics of the main indicators of the socio-economic development of the regions in and out of the crisis. It is shown that the foundation of all crises is structural factors: imbalances in the sectoral structure, a weak financial sector of the economy, and weak institutions. The resource-oriented economy model proved unsustainable to external shocks. In all the cases, the crisis drop began in regions most dependent on external economic conditions: metropolitan agglomerations and oil-and-gas producing regions. However, a deeper decline in production and slow economic recovery were observed in regions focused on domestic demand. After the 2009 crisis, the magnitude off luctuations in growth rates decreases in all federal districts. Production does not drop as far during the crisis, but its subsequent rise is also low. We evaluate the impact of national trends and features of production structure in regions on the regional economic dynamics. The article shows an increased interregional differentiation of growth rates under crisis and an increased value of regional factors proper. The resilience of regional economies to crisis shocks is determined by regional factors contribution. We consider the proportions of income distribution between households and businesses, as their changes determine the dynamics of consumer and investment demand. It is shown that transferring income towards businesses is not a factor for investment growth. The regional structure of investment demand has no direct correlation with the structure of business income. The peculiarity of the 2015 economic crisis is that final demand adapted to external shocks and the reduced post-devaluation ruble exchange rate by compressing both investment and consumer demand. The real sector of the economy shows the greatest resistance to the crisis; pre-crisis industrial indicators in 2018 are exceeded in all federal districts.

One of the advantages of the spatial concentration of economic activity is an increase in its efficiency, which can have a positive impact on efficiency dynamics at neighboring economies. However, geographical proximity does not automatically guarantee the diffusion of positive spatial effects. Nevertheless, these processes do largely determine changes in the configuration of the economic space and the further perspectives for its development. The article reflects the results of the study on the role of spatial externalities in the dynamics of labor productivity, regional economy’s efficiency indicator. The main research method is creating transition probability matrices and analyzing their properties. It is shown that high inequality of labor productivity in regional economies prevents the manifestation of positive spatial externalities. Substantial differences in the level of labor productivity between regional economies both worsen the relative dynamics of lagging regions and adversely affect the relative dynamics of the leading ones. Reducing the disparities contributes to the diffusion of positive externalities, accelerates the growth of labor productivity in less efficient regions, and fosters it in the leading regions. The obtained results show that the regional policy aimed at curbing the increase in regional inequality and creating conditions to expand interregional cooperation and collaboration is more adequate to the current situation.

The article summarizes the first stage of fairly large research aimed at obtaining new knowledge covering the influence of traditional factors of regional development (region’s economic specialization and its position in the center-periphery model) on the advancement of territorial socio-economic systems under current conditions. The paper gives a general idea of agro-industrial regions as a special type of territorial socio-economic systems with their intrinsic economic specialization, nature of the settlement system, living standard and social behavior, largely due to the «inherited» development features. We propose a science-driven methodology to define agro-industrial regions in Russia. We describe in detail a procedure for creating attribute space and present requirements for each indicator and their system as a whole. The article presents how the proposed methodology has been tested in regions of the Russian Federation. The article composes two groups of closely related indicators revealing the orientation of Russian regions towards industrial and agricultural development. The regions have been classified in a two-dimensional space where the axes are the degrees a region’s agrarian-ness and industrial-ness. We expand on the territorial-sectoral structure of the Russian economy and identify agro-industrial regions. The findings of this study are correlated with the results of previous works of similar nature.

The article considers modern theories of cluster development and cluster policy. We assess clustering trends in foreign countries and examine pilot clusters in the Russian Federation. We describe the structure of the theoretical foundation of system bases for innovation clusters. The article presents an approach to creating integrated innovative clusters as a complex set of interconnected elements and subsystems. It defines key systemic principles providing a basis for innovation clusters. The system design principles of integrated multi-level innovation clusters are determined as follows: consistency; centralized operation; non-additivity; balancing between the clusters’ main and supporting; maximum reasonable efficiency; harmony among projects with different deadlines; maintaining a critical mass of cluster members; overcoming the barriers of subject areas in innovation; continuous step-by-step development. The article designs a three-level innovation mega-cluster, as well as an innovation cluster structure that satisfies the principles of centralized operation and overcoming the barriers of subject areas in innovation.

The article presents a comparative analysis on the dynamics of the size and sex-age structure of the population in the Siberian Federal district and its regions within modern Russian trends, as well as an impact assessment regarding their changes and risks for socio-economic development in the future. We used the multi-regional demographic analysis of time series as a research method. The study was conducted distinguishing the population of urban and rural settlements, with its information base comprised of Rosstat data for 1989-2017. The article shows that, against the background of a general decline in the SFD population, especially in rural areas, negative trends in the sex-age structure of the population manifested themselves in the reduced pre-working age population considering their numbers and proportion, in the transition from working-age population increase to a more rapid decline compared to nationwide figures, in the rising rates of growth in the size and proportion of the post-working age population. This leads to the aging of the entire population and its working-age segment, to an increase in the demographic load on the working age population, to sexual asymmetry, to reduced numbers and aging of fertile women. Such long-term changes pose a threat not only to the demographic potential but also to the socio-economic development and future both of the region and the country.

The article examines the scope and nature of migration ties between different-type regions in Russia and their consequences for the socio-demographic potential of donor territories. The objects of the research are the Republic of Bashkortostan, constituent entity of the Russian Federation with a high share of working-age out-migrants, and Tyumen Oblast, oil and gas region with a steady inflow of the working-age population. The article relies on statistical and sociological data to analyze the scope and structure of long-term and short-term migration from the Republic of Bashkortostan to Tyumen Oblast and other Russian regions. Outstanding features of the autonomous regions in Tyumen Oblast, which differ them from other Russian regions in close migration relationships with the republic, include a great share of gross migration with Bashkortostan, a major population inflow from the republic due to employment, and prevalence of people with primary vocational and secondary special education among Bashkortostan migrants. Migration ties between the Siberian regions and Bashkortostan exhibit relatively low performance, which is largely due to the circular nature of such migration. However, quantitatively equal in- and outflows of the population between the Republic of Bashkortostan and Tyumen Oblast differ in terms of quality: the republic donates a young, maritally and reproductively active generation and adopts older people, already accomplished their demographic plans. The existing migration exchange weakens the socio-demographic potential of Bashkortostan as a donor region. Moreover, the republic's socio-demographic potential is also affected by the short-term (on/off) migration of its population which, as a consequence, may alter intra-family relations, have a negative impact on migrants’ health, etc. The current migration exchange between regions under study showcases how inconsistent and ambiguous migration is as a social phenomenon, since solving employment and wealth-related issues comes with risk and threats to the socio-demographic development of donor regions.

Bioclimatic substantiation of the vegetation spatial structure of the Kodar-Kalar orobiome on the basis of altitudinal vegetation divisions using the global climate model (BioClim) and data from the meteorological observing stations is carried out. It is shown that the values of mean annual temperature and mean annual rainfall identify vegetation belt and sub-belts of orobiome. For the first time climatic ordination of geographic-genetic vegetation complexes of the Northern Transbaikalia is carried out on the basis of quantitative data - temperature and moisture supply parameters, including derived characteristics (the indicator of potential evapotranspiration, the Mezentsev wetness coefficient). It is proposed the scheme that determines the diversity of vegetation of the Kodar-Kalar orobiome with account of its development in different geographic variants in the integral system of bioclimatic factors, according to which the vegetation complexes are divided according to the gradients of temperature and moisture supply. The analysis of a complex of bioclimatic characteristics made it possible to identify specific regional features in the structure and diversity of the vegetation of the mountain systems of the Northern Transbaikalia at the regional level.

The paper presents the reconstruction of Holocene dynamics of forest fires and its influence on vegetation in the central part of Meshchera Lowlands. The studies are based on macrocharcoal and pollen analyses and radiocarbon dating of peat deposits from the peatland Studencheskoye. According to obtained results, changes in the structure of the plant cover were largely determined by fire regime during the Holocene. In the period of high forest fires intensity (~9200 - 6400 cal. (calendar) years BP) the study area was occupied by birch-pine forests. The role of spruce and broad-leaved species in forest stands was increased in the period with low frequency of forest fires (~6400 - 1400 cal. years BP). The influence of fires on vegetation increased after 1400 cal years BP due to human impact. The obtained results show that periods of increased fire frequencies occurred before the human occupation of the area and were determined by climatic reasons.

The features of communities of alien species-transformers, capable of blocking regenerative successions, are studied. The process of delay of succession is considered in the example of Solidago canadensis L. and Acer negundo L. Typical habitats of communities of alien transformer species are deposits and wastelands with non-extremal moisture, pH and nitrogen richness edaphotopes. The overwhelming majority of the identified phytocenoses with the dominance of alien transformers are confined to the old anthropogenic landscapes.

The features of communities of alien species-transformers, capable of blocking regenerative successions, are studied. The process of delay of succession is considered in the example of Solidago canadensis L. and Acer negundo L. Typical habitats of communities of alien transformer species are deposits and wastelands with non-extremal moisture, pH and nitrogen richness edaphotopes. The overwhelming majority of the identified phytocenoses with the dominance of alien transformers are confined to the old anthropogenic landscapes.

In 2013 and 2014 from May to July the bird individual nesting home ranges were regularly mapped along the permanent census route (3.15 km) in the dark-coniferous taiga on the southern slope of the Baikal lake bed. Based on the mapping results, for each bird species the nesting densities and average sizes of the bird individual nesting home range are estimated. Raster maps of spatial allocation (MSA) at the scale of the raster grid of 50 ´ 50 m are obtained for each species. The degree of spatial conservatism (DSC) for each local population is inferred from the pairwise comparisons of the specific MSAs obtained at the same area (31.5 hectares) in different years with the use of the Gamma rank correlation method. Dependence of the population habitat area on DSC was demonstrated earlier [Cherenkov, 2017]. The more habitat area is found, the less dependent the individual spatial allocation within a population is observed in the different years. Based on the specific habitat areas, average sizes of the individual nesting home range and nesting densities estimated, the maximum possible nesting density and habitat saturation are calculated for each species. The population status is inferred from the degree of habitat saturation. The significant DSC estimates ( p < 0.05) are obtained for nine species, their habitat areas and saturation are found. It is shown that habitat saturation in non-migratory birds is twice higher that in migratory ones 54-58 % versus 26 %, ( F = 9.1; p < 0.01). In the two species, the Orange-flanked Bush-robin Tarsiger cyanurus Pallas, 1773 and Taiga Flycatcher Ficedula ( parva ) albicilla Pallas, 1811, the habitat saturation is less than 20 % that indicates the presumably troubled status of their populations.

Investigations of the mechanisms of spatial - behavioral interaction of members of such diverse and significant guilds as red wood ants and small mammals have been started only recently, and many questions remain obscure. In laboratory experiments we investigated inter-relations between red wood ants Formica aquilonia Yarr and the common vole Microtus arvalis Pallas, the bank vole Myodes glareolus Schreber, and the pygmy wood mouse Sylvaemus uralensis Pallas. We first described the defensive behavior of rodents and revealed a stereotype of the hunting behavior of the common vole towards dangerous insects. In all three rodent species, defensive behavior increased with an increase in the number of ants used in the tests, which corresponded to simulated natural situations with gradations of the dynamic density of insects. We speculate about the relationship between the defensive and hunting behavior of rodents towards red wood ants.

In the experiment to study impact of trophic conditions, the activity of zooplankton and fish on phytoplankton structure was shown, at the beginning of the experiment the species and size structure of algae was determined by the N: P ratio. Independently of “top-down” control, this determined the dominance of diatoms, dinoflagellates and chrysophytes algae in mesotrophic conditions, while in eutrophic - cyanobacteria. Further in all variants of the experiment the differences in the ratio N: P were leveled, the phytoplankton was dominated by large filamentous green algae. Fish weakened the press of zooplankton for phytoplankton and contributed to the increase in biomass available for zooplankton diatoms, this is most clearly manifested in eutrophic conditions.

The structure and diversity of zooplankton of the mouth part of the largest river in the European North - Pechora is studied. The river delta, an adjacent piece of the Pechora course, estuary firth (the Korovinsky bay) and lakes on its northern coast - in Timan Tundra belong to the region under study. In the delta of the Pechora River the planktonic fauna was rich and unique on structure, in which rotifers (105 species) and cladocerans (55 species) prevailed. Thermophilic invertebrates are presented in zooplankton, but cold-loving are revealed. Among copepods brackish taxa and also a possible recent invader to the region ( Eurytemora sp.) are found. The analysis alpha- and beta-diversities of planktonic communities of the studied region has showed that in the delta water bodies and lakes in general indexes are the highest. That are caused, in our opinion, variety of environmental conditions and also features of gradients of the dominating environmental factors: temperature, etc.

Some kinds of coal in Kuzbass are metalliferous and should be used to the best advantage both as fuel and as a source of valuable components recoverable from ash and slag. It is proposed to initiate a production system composed of a coal mine, heat power plant with multi-stage coal preparation for combustion and a waste treatment plant for: furnace refuses and light-end products in the form of pregnant solution and fly ash.

The studies aimed to evaluate longwall productivity in the Talda-Zapad 1 Mine are carried out with regard to the technological parameters of the drum shearer and capacity of the armored face conveyor in mining thick methane-bearing coal seam. It is found that methane release reduces with increasing output of the shearer, and allowable longwall length and capacity by the gas criterion are determined. The length of longwall 6605 is optimized by the maximum annual profit of the mine.

Overburden dumping in hydraulic fill inside mined-out open pit is discussed. Features of hydraulic filling in an open pit at a gently dipping water-bearing lignite deposit without its drainage are presented. Parameters of hydraulic fill are correlated with hydraulic filling methods. Expediency of hydraulic fill formation without a dike is specified.

Drmno open pit mine with the annual yield of 9 million tons of coal is one of the main providers of the primary energy source in company Elektroprivreda Srbije. Due to the immediate vicinity of two rivers, the Mlava and the Danube, water abundance in the working environment is high and the problem of protecting the open pit from infiltration of underground waters is relevant to the execution of exploitation works. This paper is focused on the multi-attribute check of the preference of one of the two projected variants of the modification of the system for protecting Drmno open pit mine against the infiltration of groundwater. The outcome of the analysis confirms the signification and justification of applying a multi-attribute or multi-criteria analysis for examining such problems.

Air resistances are classified depending on their locality in underground mines. Three groups of local resistances are distinguished: shaft and mining horizon intersections; shaft and air channel intersections; stope and ventilation duct intersections in blind drifts. Influence of each group of the local resistances on the mine depression is evaluated as function of geometry and aerodynamics of underground openings. The criteria are proposed for estimating percentage influence of each group on the total mine depression are proposed. The calculation methods are determined for each group to be advisably used in quantitative analysis of air distribution in underground mine ventilation networks under the ventilation mode change.

Adsorption of IM-50 and tall oil fatty acid (ZHKTM) on cassiterite is for the first time determined using the electron and laser microscopy. The micro images of cassiterite polished sections treated with the collecting agents show newly formed phases of an organic matter, the X-ray spectra of the phases feature the increased carbon content. When cassiterite interacts with IM-50 and ZHKTM, the mineral surface is modified by stable metal-absorbent systems, which promotes efficient tin recovery from tin sulphide ore. By the change in the surface relief parameters of cassiterite, the adsorption layer of IM-50 and ZHKTM agents is qualitatively and quantitatively assessed. The comparative flotation tests of cassiterite and quartz fractions prove high collecting ability of IM-50 and ZHKTM relative to tin. It is found that ZHKTM efficiently floats cassiterite in neutral and alkaline environments while IM-50 is used at higher consumption.

The computing equipment of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for mathematical modeling of physics and physical chemistry in separation is presented. Completeness and particularization of the initial and boundary conditions in mathematical models condition validation and verification of the algorithm and results of computational experiments presenting the current state and evolution of a heterogeneous medium. There are three possible applications of the computational experiment in studying mineral dressing processes: investigation of operations in mineral processing machines; prediction of technological parameters in variation of separation modes and (or) retrofit installation; prototyping of new design equipment. The computer simulations of centrifugal classification, spiral separation, magnetic-and-gravity separation and flotation are discussed.

The research results on deep concentration of basic mineralogical variety of natural rich ore to obtain high-quality iron ore product for metallization are presented. The main methods of mineral dressing (selective crushing, magnetic separation in weak and strong fields, gravity separation and flotation) are tested in the technological experiments. It is shown that high-quality iron ore product can be obtained from natural rich ore using a simple technology. The simple technology should be applied at the first stage of processing for maximum possible extraction of high-quality product. Wet separation processes should be used at the later stage as they unavoidably result in high loss of marketable product, as well as bring difficulties connected with dewatering and drying.

The process of wet magnetic separation of oxidized ore from the deposit of Abail, Republic of Kazakhstan, is studied. Kinetics of roasted product milling is analyzed, and the optimal size is recommended for the fist stage of milling as -0.071 mm at the content of 55-60%. The accomplished magnetic analysis of different size products shows that the decrease in size causes no increment of iron in the magnetic product and iron is at the level of 63.0 mass%. The scanning electron microscopy reveals that the roasted and magnetic products contain floccules of gangue and magnetite particles which ass into magnetic fraction and worsen its quality. Two schemes are proposed for decomposition of floccules: multistage desliming with regard to sedimentation velocity in liquid medium and attrition with deffloculation agent. It is recommended to apply two two-stage circuit with milling, desliming and wet magnetic separation, which allows production of iron concentrate with iron content of 67% at recovery of 76.5%.

The regular patterns are revealed in the influence exerted by the absorbed dose on the elastic wave velocity in granite after radiation exposure. It is shown that the major change in velocity of P-and S-waves in the treated cores of granite is observed when the absorbed dose is 10 kGy. The energy consumption in breaking and crushing can be estimated in the tests of uniaxial compression up to failure. Radiation exposure of granite cores to the dose of 10 kGy reduces energy consumption from 7.68 to 3.06 J in uniaxial compression up to failure and from 700.4 to 470.88 J in crushing. The obtained result is important for improvement of ore pretreatment processes.

Elastic properties of enclosing rock mass around Botuobinskaya pipe diamond deposit are studied using the standard STO 05282612-001-2913. The Standard is based on an original procedure for determination of static elastic properties of materials under change in temperature or moisture content, which is inprovided by Russian and international standard but is of practical value in mine planning and design in the permafrost zone. A sample is subjected to multiple loading in the range of low irreversible strains, which improves measurement accuracy and enables physically correct estimation of temperature and water content influence on change of properties in a material in transition from thawed to frozen state. Based on the findings, the mechanisms of change in elastic properties of hard rocks are determined in a wide temperature range. It is emphasized that the change in elastic properties exhibits essentially nonlinear dependence on water content.

The methodical basis is given for the macroecological rough-draught mapping of mining and processing industry zones at a local and regional scale by the key indexes and numerical values of geoecological indicators reflecting the real biota response from the results of remote sensing of vegetation cover, with description of contamination sources and production infrastructure. Judged from the functional purpose of maps, the rough-draught maps provide an assessment of current state and quality of the natural environment using the relevant standards and ratings with regard to a human being and the biota as a whole as the principal ecological subject.

An approach is proposed to connecting strength data of different-size rock samples by the linear share-to-normal stress dependence. The data are presented by Mohr’s circles. The key moment is the determination of centroids for uniaxial compression and tensions areas enveloped by Mohr’s semi-circles. Using coordinates of the centroids, the shear stress-normal stress curves are plotted. Thereupon, the model estimate of missing data (ultimate compression and tension strengths) is constructed for rock samples. The missing ultimate strengths are estimated in terms of meta-siltstone.

A rigorous literature review has been carried out on rheological behaviour of hard and soft particle slurries.The rheological characteristics of unimodal and bimodal suspension are presented. From experimentation, it was observed that mineral viscosity increases with solid concentration, while decreases with temperature. Addition of 30% (by weight) proportion of finer particles in coarse particles resulted in significant decrease in apparent viscosity of iron ore suspension. Artificial neural network approach was used for predicting the apparent viscosity of slurry.

Knowledge of the state of stress regime is important to the mine designers for deciding the method of mining and for strategic design in virgin areas. This knowledge helps them in deciding the mining sequence and rock reinforcement for extraction of ores economically and safely. Generally, as excavation progresses to deeper levels, the stress tensors are also equally affected. Elevated stress regime results in concomitant increase in rock fracturing and mining induced deformations. The ambient state of the stress in an element of rock in the ground is determined by the existing loading regime in the rock mass as well as the stress path defined by the cumulative geologic history of the area. Rock failure in the periphery of the excavation is somewhat stress related, and it is therefore important to ascertain the extent of stress levels within a given rock formation. In this paper, the role of stress regime in pre and post mining stages is discussed by referring available and validated data inputs from in-situ stress measurements conducted at deeper levels in mines. Further, the authors also tried to ascertain the redistribution of the stresses due to mining or perturbation due to various other geological factors and any re-orientation of the stresses when compared to pre-mining stress tensor. The generation of post - mining stress data helps in understanding the impact of mining on the stress and could be used for design and sequencing of the mining operations for safe and optimum extraction of the ore/mineral.

The full-scale experiments on acoustic noise recording on the surface of an above-ground pipeline are carried out on operating heating main. The tests were performed in the pipeline branches with different style attachment between pipe and support-rigid (the pipe is welded to the support) and flexible (the freely supported heat-insulated pipe). The experiments show that collection of recorded noise amplitude spectra makes it possible to determine natural frequencies and forms of flexural coincident waves generated by noise in the pipeline spans. Both frequencies and forms of the waves depend on the style of the pipe attachment at the span ends, which may be used in diagnostics of pipeline branches by acoustic noise to detect damaged stiffness of the pipe-support attachment and/or instability of the supports. The computer modeling using the finite element method yields flexural wave frequencies similar to the experiment results. The distributions of nodes and antinodes of flexural coincident waves along pipeline spans at different style pipe-support attachments qualitatively agree with the earlier lab test data.

The monitoring results on earthquake loads from blasting in the Shakhtau open pit mine in 2016-2017 are presented. The integrated model of influence exerted by the parameters of drilling-and-blasting and the environment on the surface earthquake loading is developed, which allows high-precision prediction of the seismic effect value at any point of a study area. The estimates of of the short-blasting initiation errors are given. It is concluded on the promising nature of continuous blasting monitoring in difficult geotechnical conditions when reliability of standard seismic effect valuation procedures is insufficient.

To find out the power source for coal and gas outburst, the experimental instrument ASAP2020M was used for nitrogen adsorption experiment. The experiment was carried out at the temperature of 77 K, in which the activity of nitrogen can be reduced at least and the results of the test were more accurate. The experimental data were fitted by the function of f(x)=ax^b. The total volume of micropores and the degree of micropore volume filled by nitrogen were calculated by the Dubinin-Radushkevich equation. In unexploited coal body, the gas desorption occurs in a unit, it could trigger a desorption of the neighboring units of coal body. When it reaches a certain level that can push the coal body forward, the coal and gas outburst would happen. For the material containing micropores and mesopores like coal, the inflection point was the demarcation point of micropore filling and adsorption of multilayer.

The geomechanical mode, of the powered roof support-top coal-roof rock system is developed. For investigation of disintegration processes in top coal of thick seam, numerical modeling with finite element discretization of a study domain is carried out using the authors’ original code. The computational experiment reveals stress distribution in rock mass, as well as evaluates position, shape and size on uncontrolled caving zones in tope coal.