Chapter 13 Mining

mineral resource

can be extracted from earth's crust and processed into raw materials and products at an affordable cost

subsurface mining

deep deposits removed

reserves

estimated supply of a mineral resource

low grade ore

less concentrated with mineral

open-pit mining

machines dig very large holes and remove metal ores such as iron and copper. uses heavy machinery to dig holes to remove ores and material like sand and gravel

strip mining

machines dig very large holes and remove metal ores such as iron and copper. uses heavy machinery to dig holes to remove ores and material like sand and gravel.

solid waste

mining produces the most..

high grade ore

more concentrated with mineral

types of surface mining

open-pit mining, strip mining, contour strip mining, mountaintop removal

ore

rock that contains the mineral that we are interested in selling

environmental effects

scarring and disruption of the land surface (spoil banks) Mountaintop removal for coal: loss of rivers and streams, air pollution, groundwater disruption Biodiversity decreases

surface mining

shallow deposits removed, overburden, depends on resource and local topography

purpose of mining

to extract mineral in the earth's crust to use for products

dredging

type of surface mining in which chain buckets and draglines scrape up sand, gravel, and other surface deposits covered with water. used to remove sediment from streams and harbors.

spoils

waste material

in situ leaching

A type of mining in which small holes are drilled into the site and water based chemical solvents are used by miners to extract the resources

underground mining

Involves the sinking of shafts to reach underground deposits. In this type of mining, networks of tunnels are dug or blasted and humans enter these tunnels to manually retrieve the coal. Used when minerals are too deep to be extracted by surface mining. (subsurface mining)

mountaintop removal

a mining technique in which the entire top of a mountain is removed with explosives

highwall mining

a mining technique in which the unexcavated face of expose overburden and coal or ore in an opencast mine, or the face or bank of the uphill side of a contour strip mine, is excavated