The illustration above shows a drift type of underground mine. A mine opening is made at the same elevation as the coals seam and mining is conducted using typically either longwall mining or room and pillar mining with continuous mining equipment. Coal is transported to the surface by conveyor belts. This method of mining is used when the coal seam outcrops at the surface, or when a bench has to be constructed on a mountain side to mine the coal.
Underground mine planning and design has as its goal an integrated mine systems design, whereby a mineral is extracted and prepared at a desired market specification and at a minimum unit cost within acceptable social, legal, and regulatory constraints. A large number of individual engineering disciplines contribute to the mine planning and design process, such that it is a multi-disciplinary activity. Given the complexity of the mining system, planning assures the correct selection and coordinated operation of all subsystems, while design applies to the traditionally held engineering design of subsystems. A mining operation should be more correctly viewed as a system, because of the diversity of technological processes, facilities, and personal skills required, the large capital invested, the mutual relations that exist between subsystems, etc. The planning process necessitates a systems engineering approach suitable for complex design problems.

Planning must account for both environmental protection, beginning as early as the initial exploration, and for reclamation. It is critical that planning alleviate or mitigate potential impacts of mining for two key reasons: (1) the cost of environmental protection is minimized by incorporating it into the initial design, rather than performing remedial measures to compensate for design deficiencies, and (2) negative publicity or poor public relations may have severe economic consequences. From the start of the planning process, adequate consideration must be given to regulatory affairs. The cost of compliance may be significantly reduced when taken into account in the design or planning process, in a proactive manner, rather than being addressed on an ad hoc basis as problems develop or enforcement actions occur.

From the beginning of the mine design planning stage, data gathering and permitting, environmental considerations are important, although benefits from a strictly economic sense may be intangible. From exploration, where core holes must be sealed and the site reclaimed, through plan development, the impacts on the environment must be considered. These impacts include aesthetics, noise, air quality (dust and pollutants), vibration, water discharge and runoff, subsidence, and process wastes; sources include the underground and surface mine infrastructure, mineral processing plant, access or haul roads, remote facilities, etc. If mining will cause quality deterioration of either surface water or groundwater, remedial and treatment measures must be developed to meet discharge standards. The mine plan must include all the technical measures necessary to handle all the environmental problems from initial data gathering to the mine closure and reclamation of the disturbed surface area.

Reclamation plans include many of the following concerns: drainage control, preservation of top soil, segregation of waste material, erosion and sediment control, solid waste disposal, control of fugitive dust, regrading, and restoration of waste and mine areas. The plan must also consider the effects of mine subsidence, vibration (induced by mining, processing, transport, or subsidence), and impact on surface water and groundwater. These environmental items often dictate the economics of a planned mining operation and determine its viability.

The illustration above shows a shaft type of underground mine. A mine opening is made by sinking a shaft down to the elevation of the coal seam. Mining is conducted using typically either longwall mining or room and pillar mining with continuous mining equipment. Coal is transported to the surface by a skip hoist. This is the most expensive type of underground mine to build and operate. This method of mining coal is usually utilized when the coal seam is deep below the surface.

The illustration above shows a slope type of underground mine. A mine opening is made by tunneling from the surface down to the elevation of the coal seam. Mining is conducted using typically either longwall mining or room and pillar mining with continuous mining equipment. Coal is transported to the surface by conveyor belts. This method of mining coal is usually utilized when the coal seam is not far from the surface, and the outcrop of the coal seam is not exposed.