###### Abstract  
Underground Mining (UM) is a hostile industry that generally requires a wireless communication system as a cross-cutting axis for its optimal operation. Therefore, in the last five years, it has been shown that, in addition to radio-frequency-based communication links, wireless optical communications, such as Visible Light Communication (VLC), can be applied to UM environments. The application of VLC systems in underground mines, known as UM-VLC, must take into account the unique physical features of underground mines. Among the physical phenomena found in underground mines, the most important ones are the positioning of optical transmitters and receivers, irregular walls, shadowing, and a typical phenomenon found in tunnels known as scattering, which is caused by the atmosphere and dust particles. Consequently, it is necessary to use proper dust particle distribution models consistent with these scenarios to describe the scattering phenomenon in a coherent way in order to design realistic UM-VLC systems with better performance. Therefore, in this article, we present an in-depth study of the interaction of optical links with dust particles suspended in the UM environment and the atmosphere. In addition, we analytically derived a hemispherical 3D dust particle distribution model, along with its main statistical parameters. This analysis allows to develop a more realistic scattering channel component and presents an enhanced UM-VLC channel model. The performance of the proposed UM-VLC system is evaluated using computational numerical simulations following the IEEE 802.1.5.7 standard in terms of Channel Impulse Response (CIR), received power, Signal-to-Noise-Ratio (SNR), Root Mean Square (RMS) delay spread, and Bit Error Rate (BER). The results demonstrate that the hemispherical dust particle distribution model is more accurate and realistic in terms of the metrics evaluated compared to other models found in the literature. Furthermore, the performance of the UM-VLC system is negatively affected when the number of dust particles suspended in the environment increases. d 2022 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 222 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 222 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 generated by the regular operation of the mine, such as toxic components, heavy metals, and dust particles make work in UM tunnels hostile. Therefore, to generate greater control of mining activity, it is necessary to establish reliable and stable communication systems in order to manage day-to-day communication, along with emergencies that may occur in this environment. However, the physical structure of UM tunnels is a challenge for the design and implementation of systems that allow stable and effective communication [3]. Among the current communication systems applied to UM, wired communication systems (copper, coaxial, or fiber) are susceptible to damage by the working environment and are not reliable in UM tunnels. In terms of wireless communication systems, radio communication systems exhibit high signal attenuation due to electromagnetic interference in mining tunnels [4]. It is also important to mention that these environments need good lighting that meets international standards for safe work [5]. These challenges and disadvantages of the current technologies implemented in UM are presented as opportunities to research and develop complementary communication systems that guarantee efficient communication and optimize the lighting in UM environments simultaneously. Therefore, to address these communication and lighting problems in a single system, the concept of Visible Light Communication (VLC) has been introduced for UM communication [6; 7].