Utility of the Gravity Method for Resolving the Conflict over a Mine Panel Claimed to Infringe a Permit Boundary

Coal mine panel claimed to infringe a permit boundary, or mine subsidence inflicting damage to buildings has been the subject of lawsuits in several countries. We study at Soma, Manisa, the footprint of a lignite coal mine panel at a depth of about 170 m by mapping all of the surface fractures we could observe, and developed a post-subsidence conceptual density model that we verified through gravity measurements with positive Bourger anomaly. With the utility of the gravity method, we were clearly able to detect the anomalous mass that was created with denser overburden material filling up the space after the extraction of less-denser lignite. The orientations of the fractures we mapped at the ground surface, the Bourger gravity map, and a test borehole all together left no doubt about the existence and the dimensions of the mine panel. This presented approach is expected to find application at sites with similar disputes, and for abandoned mines.