Open-Cut Mining

► Used when: Ore body is less than 200 metres below the surface i.e. ore
is nearer to the surface and overburden layer is thin.
► Ore and surrounding waste rock are mined at the same time & separated
later
► Mining method:
► Explosives
► Front end loaders / Electric Shovels
► Loading into Dumpers Commonly mistaken with: Strip Mining, Borrows,
► Crushed using Primary Crusher Placers, Quarries. Mines producing building
► Mining is not feasible when: material and dimension stone referred to as
‘Quarries’
► Extraction becomes costlier due to increasing ratio of overburden to ore
► Greater difficulty in mining the ore Mineral extracted using this method: Coal and
extensively in "hard rock" mining for ores such as
Concepts: metal ores, copper, gold, iron, aluminum.
► Walls of the pit are generally dug on an angle less than vertical, to prevent Adopted by: Australia, Bulgaria, Chile, Columbia,
and minimize damage and danger from rock falls. Indonesia, Peru, Portugal, Russia, South Africa,
► The walls are stepped. The inclined section of the wall is known as the UK, US, Zambia.
batter, and the flat part of the step is known as the bench or perm. India Status: Used by?
► Waste rock is piled up at the surface, near the edge of the open pit. This is
known as the waste dump. The waste dump is also tiered and stepped, to
minimize degradation.
► Ore which has been processed is known as tailings, and is generally a
slurry. This is pumped to a tailings dam or settling pond, where the water
evaporates.

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Strip Mining / Surface Mining

► Strip mining is a type of surface mining that involves excavating earth, rock,
and other material to uncover a tabular, lens-shaped, or layered mineral
reserve.
► Used when: Ore bodies are located close to the Earth’s surface.

► Mining Method:
► Seam of mineral is mined by removing the overburden
► Machines like bucket wheel excavators, draglines, stripping shovels are used along
with explosives to move the overburden.
► The extraction of the overburden is done in rectangular blocks called pits or strips.
► The pits are parallel and adjacent to each other with each strip of overburden and
the mineral beneath extracted sequentially.
► The mining process involves moving the overburden laterally to the adjacent empty
pit where the mineral has been extracted
► This movement is called casting or open casting A pictorial representation of a
typical strip mine
► Has two forms:
► Area Stripping : Used on relatively flat terrain to extract deposits.
► Contour Stripping: Here the overburden is removed above the mineral seam near
the outcrop in hilly terrain, where the mineral outcrop usually follows the contour of
the land.

► Strip mining is used to extract materials of sedimentary origin like coal and
tar sand.
► An advantage of this method is that the adjacent pits are filled with the
overburden which ensures reclamation of mined land.

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Strip Mining / Surface Mining

Mineral extracted using this method: Coal and

tar sand
Adopted by: Australia
India Status: Used by?

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 Dredge Mining

►Dredging is the underwater excavation of a placer deposit by

floating equipment.
►It is an excavation activity or operation carried out partly
underwater with the purpose of gathering up bottom sediments
and disposing them off at a different location

►Used when: Large mineral sands are found along coastlines

►Mining Method:
►The Dredge moves slowly through the water drawing material mostly
sand
►On the dredge the heavier minerals can be easily separated from the
Adopted by: USA , Belgium , The Netherlands and
lighter sand grains
Australia
India Status: Used by?
►Itis one of the least expensive methods of mining. Minerals extracted using this method: Iileminte, rutile,
►Dredging historically has played a significant role in gold mining. zircon, monazite
►The disadvantage with using dredging is that it can create a
disturbance in the aquatic ecosystems often with adverse
impacts.

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Dredge Mining

A pictorial representation of the effects of sand

dredging

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Underground Mining

►Used When:

►The ore body is deep beneath the earth’s surface and surface mining is
unattractive.

►Objective:
► To extract the ore below the surface of the earth safely , economically and with
as little waste as possible

►Types:
►Borehole Mining
►Driftmining
►Hard rock mining
►Soft rock mining
►Shaft mining
►Slope mining

► Machinery used in underground mining: Minerals, rocks and gemstones mined

► Dump Trucks this way:
► ShuttleCar Biotite. Calcite, Copper, Diamond,
► Continuous Miner Emerald. Gold, Graphite, Turquoise,
► Longwall mining equipment Silver, Ruby , Zinc, Nickel & Gypsum
► Getman underground mining equipment

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Underground Mining

►Ventilation is an extremely important aspect of underground mining. Mine

ventilation provides fresh air underground and at the same time removes noxious
gases as well as dangerous dusts that might cause lung disease like silicosis
►The ratio of air circulated through the mine and coal produced from a mine is 6:1,
which just emphasizes the importance of ventilation in underground mining.
►Fresh air and return air are conducted through entry and exit points created in
the mine, termed as intakes and returns.

►Underground Mining can be used both when the rock is hard as well as when it is
soft.

►Underground Hard Rock Mining:

► Used in excavation of hard minerals, mainly those containing metals such as ore
containing gold, copper, zinc, nickel and lead and also gems like diamonds.

► Mining Method:
► Access to the ore can be achieved via a decline (ramp), inclined vertical shaft
or adits. An underground mine with
shaft access
► Concepts:
► A Decline can be a spiral tunnel which circles either the flank of the
deposit or circles around the deposit
► A shaft is a vertical excavation sunk adjacent to an ore body. Shafts are
used when haulage to surface via truck is not economical.
► An Adit is a horizontal excavation into the side of a hill or mountain.
Used for horizontal or near horizontal ore bodies where there is no need
for a ramp or shaft.

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Underground Mining

►Underground Soft Rock Mining:

► Refers to a group of underground mining techniques used to
extract minerals or geological materials from sedimentary / soft
rocks.

► Mining Method: Soft rock mining uses the following techniques for
mining of minerals:
► Longwall Mining
► Room and Pillar Mining / Continuous Mining
► Blast Mining
► Shortwall Mining – Not commonly used

► Borehole Mining:
►A remotely operated method of extracting mineral resources
through boreholes by means of high pressure water jets.
► Can be carried out from land surface, open pit floor, underground
mine or floating platform or vessel through pre-drilled boreholes.

► Mining Method:
►A bore hole of a desired depth is drilled from land surface up
to the place where actual mining will take place.
► A large diameter pipe (casing column) is inserted down the
hole and the desired mining tool is inserted down the column
into the hole.
► Its advantages lie in its low capital cost, mobility, selectivity, ability
to work in hazardous and dangerous conditions and low
environmental impact .
A Borehole Mining site

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Underground Mining

►Drift Mining:
►A method of accessing a geological material, by cutting into the
sides of the earth, rather than entering by the straight down
method.
►The horizontal entry points used in drift mining are known as adits.

► Mining method:
► Generally the entrance into the earth’s surface is not at an
inclined, however to facilitate easy extraction with the help of
gravity a slight inclination may be used.

► It’s a cost-efficient method of extracting minerals.

Rocks and Minerals mined using this
► Shaft Mining: method: Gold, Coal, Quartz and Zinc.
►A method of excavating a vertical or near vertical tunnel from top-
down, where there is initially no access to the bottom.
► Also known as shaft sinking, it’s the deepest form of underground
mining.

► Mining Method:
►A vertical manshaft is created in the mine where men and
equipment travel up and down in an elevator .
► Short –tunnels to the ore are dug from the manshaft
► The ore is broken into chunks using dynamite and loaded into
trucks through a second shaft.
► An airshaft is also present to provide ventilation. Rocks and Minerals mined using this
method: Gold, Coal and Copper

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Underground Mining

► Equipment used:
►Dump trucks
►Continous Miner
►Shuttle Car
►Longwall mining equipment

An abandoned shaft mine site

at Germany

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In Situ Leaching

►Used When:
►Deposits are too deep or
►Beds are not thick enough for conventional underground mining

►It’sa process involving recovery of minerals through drilling of

boreholes into the deposit
►Extraction is carried out by pumping a leaching solution (also
called leachate solution) into the ore deposit. The solution
dissolves with the ore and is then pumped to the surface via a
second borehole and processed further
►Solvents used include water, sulphuric acid, sodium bicarbonate
and many more depending on the properties of the ore

►Its advantages are:

►Miners are not exposed to the ore body.
►There is reduced radiation because the ore is in solution form.
►Less expensive because large masses of rock need not be broken up
Diagrammatic representation of In Situ
this saves time too and therefore production runs of the end product are Leaching
shorter. Minerals extracted using this method: Uranium
►Can also be used to mine smaller, narrower and lower grade ore bodies.
and Copper

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In Situ Leaching

►The major disadvantages or criticisms leveled against this process

are:
► Can be used only if the ore is sufficiently permeable and porous.
►Results in acidification of ground water
►Potentially hazardous heavy metals are mobilized in this process, and in
the case of uranium radioactive heavy metals.
►Disturbs the groundwater table significantly, mixes groundwater aquifers
and disturbs the land atop the ore body

An in situ leach processing plant at

Hebbronville, Texas, United States.

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Heap Leaching

►An industrial mining process to extract precious metals and

copper compounds from ore.

►Mining Method:
►The soil on a slightly sloping ground is first compacted and then
covered with an impermeable pad like an asphalt layer or a flexible
plastic sheet.
►The extracted ore is broken into small chunks and heaped on this
impermeable pad.
►Here it is sprayed with the leaching reagent
►Sprinklers or drip irrigation are used for this in order to minimize
evaporation.
►The leachate (metal containing solution) drained from the heap is
collected in a pond and the solution is subsequently sent for metal
recovery. The solution containing the metal is also known as
“pregnant solution”
►Precious metals are extracted using dilute cyanide solution and
sulphuric acid is used to extract copper and nickel.
Diagrammatic representation of Heap
Leaching
►Heap leaching takes months to process as compared to dump Minerals extracted using this method: Precious
leaching which takes years. metals, copper and nickel
In some cases Gold too.

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Heap Leaching

►Factors to be considered for successful heap leaching are:

►Good permeability should be maintained
►A good water balance should be maintained.
►pH control
►A steady supply of leaching reagents

►Permeability is critical for the recovery rates from a heap. If the

heap is very compact, the leaching operation will take more
time as the reagent will percolate slowly through the heap. If
the heap is uneven, some part of the heap may remain
untreated.
►To address such problems fine particles are agglomerated (or
clustered together) to ensure good permeability.

A heap leach plant at Al-Haja in Saudi

Arabia

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Land Rehabilitation / Reclamation

►Land Rehabilitation is the process of returning land in a given area to some degree of its former state, after
some process has resulted in its damage, like Mining, farming , forestry etc.
►A re-engineering process that attempts to restore an area of land back to its natural state after it has been
damaged as a result of some sort of disruption. The process involves such things as removing all man-made
structures, toxins and other dangerous substances, improving the soil conditions and adding new flora.
►Modern mine rehabilitation aims to minimize and mitigate the environmental effects of modern mining,
►Reclamation after Open pit mining would involve moving a significant volume of rock.
►A rehabilitation method followed after mining is done would involve among other things:
►Flattening of waste dumps through contouring to prevent erosion
►Ores containing sulphides are covered with a layer of clay to prevent access of rain and oxygen from the
air which could oxidize the sulphides to produce sulphuric acid
►Landfills are covered with topsoil and vegetation is planted to help consolidate the material
►Fencing is done to protect dumps from becoming devoid of vegetation, due to grazing by livestock
►The open pit is surrounded with a fence to prevent access and it generally fills up with groundwater
►Tailing Dams are left to evaporate, then they are covered with waste rock or clay if required and soil is
planted for stabilization purposes.
►Rehabilitation is not a significant problem for underground mines, this is due the higher grade of the ore and
lower volumes of waste rock and tailings.
►The plant and infrastructure are not always removed as many plants have cultural heritage and value.

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Land Rehabilitation / Reclamation

►Aftercoal mining, the reclamation process reduces the amount of acid mine drainage and acidic runoff to
groundwater, streams, and rivers. The new vegetative cover on reclaimed lands helps reduce erosion and
prevent further exposure of pollutants to the soil. Safety concerns are eliminated. Uncontrolled fires are
prevented. Reclaimed areas can be dedicated to new productive uses.

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Glossary of terms

►Overburden: It refers to the material that lies above the soil and ecosystem and that needs to be removed
before the mineral can be removed by using strip mining.
►Outcrop: An exposure of rock or mineral deposit that can be seen on surface, that is, not covered by soil or
water.
►Placer / Placer Deposit: A placer deposit or placer is an accumulation of valuable minerals formed by
deposition of dense mineral phases in a trap site.
►Longwall Mining: A form of underground coal mining where a long wall (typically about 250-400 m long) of coal
is mined in a single slice
►Shortwall Mining: An underground mining method in which small areas are worked (15 to 150 feet) by a
continuous miner in conjunction with the use of hydraulic roof
►Dredge: A power shovel to remove material from a channel or riverbed. It is a device for scraping or sucking the
seabed, used for dredging
►Dredger: A dredger is a ship or boat equipped with a dredge
►In Situ: In situ is a Latin phrase meaning in the place. It is used in many different contexts.
►Leaching: The downward transport of dissolved or suspended minerals, fertilizers and other substances by
water passing through a soil or other permeable material.
►Leachate: The liquid produced when water percolates through any permeable material
►Aquifer: An underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock or unconsolidated materials from which
groundwater can be usefully extracted.

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Glossary of terms

►Asphalt: Asphalt is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid that is present in most crude
petroleum and in some natural deposits.
►pH: pH is the measure of the acidity or basicity of the solution
►Permeability: It is a measure of the ability of a material (typically, a rock or unconsolidated material) to transmit
fluids.
►Landfill: A low area that has been filled in.
►Contouring: The process of removing material completely outside of a line or region.
►Tailings - The material that remains after all economically and technically recoverable precious metals have
been removed from the ore during processing

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