Editorial: Geological disasters and its prevention in deep mining

With the gradual depletion of shallow mineral resources, the mining of deep mineral resources has become inevitable. The geological disasters such as large deformations of soft rocks, rock bursts, and gas outbursts induced by the deep mining have brought great challenges and seriously threatened the safety of mine productions. Under the conditions of high ground stresses, high water pressures and strong engineering disturbances, the nonlinear behavior of deep coals and rocks is more prevalent in deep mining, which may further complicate the forming mechanisms, patterns and dynamics of the geological disasters. Thus, deep mining-induced disasters have the characteristics of sudden, complexity and nonlinearity, and are more difficult to effectively forecast and control. Since the traditional mining theory lags behind the mining engineering practice, it is urgent to develop new theories and methods to solve the theoretical and technical challenges of deep mining. We then provide a forum for professionals and academics to communicate their impactful research on Geological Disaster and Its Prevention in Deep Mining, which results in the 15 papers being published in this Research Topic that might be of your interest. These papers mainly cover the following six aspects, such as experiment on mechanical characteristics of rock samples, rockburst prediction and mine waterproofing, surface deformation and foundation subsidence, gas migration and its enhancement drainage, deformation characteristics of surrounding rock in roadway, and stability and support of mining field. Please visit the following website for more information: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/34613/geological-disasters-and-its-prevention-in-deep-mining#overview.