The Sustainable Development of Aged Coal Mine Achieved by Recovering Pillar-Blocked Coal Resources

China faces the problem of depletion of its coal resources, and a large number of mines are becoming aged mines. Demand for coal, however, still increases due to the growth of China's economy. Energy shortage might restrict the sustainability of China's national economy. As one contribution to a solution, this paper proposes the innovative exploitation method of solid backfill coal mining (SBCM) technology to exploit parts of pillar-blocked (residual coal pillar resources under industrial square, RCPRIS) that protect industrial facilities. Thus, blocked coal resources may be converted into mineable reserves that improve the recovery ratio of mine resources. Also, waste would be removed from the surface reducing hazards of environmental pollution. Based on the case of the Baishan Coal Mine in Anhui, China, numerical simulation is used to study the size of shaft-protecting coal pillars (SPCP) required at different backfill ratios. Results show that the disturbance to a shaft caused by exploitation decreases with the increase of the backfill ratio. When using SBCM to exploit RCPRIS under the condition of 80% backfill ratio, compared with the caving method, a lot of pillar-blocked coal resources would be freed. The life of Baishan Coal Mine would be prolonged, resulting in appreciable social, environmental, and economic benefits.