Background After 70 years of innovative development, China’s surface high-resolution seismic exploration for coal and in-mine channel wave seismic survey have successfully achieved a technological counterattack from "following" to "leading". The intelligent seismic detection technology while mining and driving operations has achieved disruptive innovation from "0" to "1". The overall level of China's coal seismic exploration technology has leapt to a world-leading position.

Progress  In surface high-resolution seismic exploration technology, We have gone through four stages of development, that is arduous pursuit of foreign advanced technology (1955-1984), striving to follow (1985-1998), sustained parallel running (1999-2014), and technological leadership (2015-2025). Meanwhile,we have achieved three landmark technological achievements.Firstly, high-resolution 2D seismic surveys can identify faults with a throw of over 10-15 m, promoting seismic exploration's transition from coal resource prospecting to a new stage of mine design and development.Secondly, high-resolution 3D seismic results improved fault interpretation resolution from 10 m to 5 m, achieving a seismic technological upgrade from 2D to 3D.Thirdly, high-density full-digital 3D seismic enhanced fault interpretation resolution from 5 m to 2-3 m, OVT (Offset Vector Tile) technology enables the interpretation of anisotropic features such as fracture-intensive zones, marking a technological leap in seismic exploration from structural to lithological exploration. In the field of in-mine channel wave seismic exploration, domestically produced nodal digital channel wave seismographs have been developed, enabling adaptation to channel wave operations under complex roadway conditions. A geophone-anchor bolt coupling method was invented, reducing the number of boreholes by two-thirds and shortening operation time from 10-15 days to 1-2 days. A wide-azimuth holographic channel wave observation system was proposed, significantly improving detection accuracy for faults, collapse columns and coal thickness variations. The technical challenge of low resolution in reflected channel wave envelope imaging was overcome, leading to the formation of a high-precision reflected channel wave diffraction migration imaging technology with independent intellectual property rights. Regarding intelligent seismic detection for mining and driving operations, the technical bottleneck of using shearer and roadheader as seismic sources was broken through. A new mode of mine seismicity was innovated, transitioning from manual blasting to mining/driving excitation, from explosive sources to green sources, from static detection to dynamic detection, and from structural detection to stress monitoring. This provides core technical support for intelligent geological assurance in coal mines.

Prospect  Looking ahead, coal seismic exploration technology will extend from structural to lithological exploration, expand from coal seam exploration to coordinated coal and coalbed methane exploration, and transform geological assurance from "safe and efficient mining" to "intelligent and green mining." Therefore, it will provide transparent geological assurance throughout the entire lifecycle for the safe, efficient, green, and intelligent exploitation of coal resources.