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🔥 We present one of the articles from the new issue of the journal "Mining Science and Technology" (No. 2, 2026)! Spontaneous combustion fires in coal seams are among the most hazardous accidents in underground mining. Timely detection of a fire source and determination of its coordinates are key safety tasks. Acoustic diagnostic methods can supplement existing approaches, but their capabilities have not yet been systematically described. The authors of the article classified acoustic methods for detecting and locating fire sources. Based on the origin of the recorded signal, they are divided into three categories: passive (recording emission from combustion processes), active (probing the rock mass), and combined. For each method, applicability limits, strengths, and weaknesses were identified. A comparative analysis is presented in tabular form using ten criteria. What does this offer for practice? Acoustic diagnostics can detect combustion, determine fire source coordinates, track the spatial and temporal evolution of fire boundaries, and identify the fire stage. The choice of a specific method, or a combination of methods, depends on the operating conditions. A promising direction is the use of highly directional sensing elements in an undisturbed coal pillar for single-station bearing of fire sources. In addition, acoustic diagnostics can be used to identify zones with elevated radionuclide concentrations formed during coal combustion. 📖 Read more: Borisenko D.I., Kobylkin S.S. Acoustic methods for detecting and locating fire sources in coal seams: classification and future directions. Mining Science and Technology (Russia). 2026;11(2):159–168. https://doi.org/10.17073/2500-0632-2025-07-996 🔔 Subscribe to our Telegram channel: t.me/MinSciTech #InEnglish #MST #MiningScience #AcousticDiagnostics #SpontaneousCombustion #CoalSeams #MineSafety #FireDetection #SourceLocalization #SingleStationBearing