Surface Mining

Surface mining is a form of mining in which the soil and the rock covering the mineral deposits are
removed. It is the other way of underground mining, in which the overlying rock is left behind, and the
required mineral deposits are removed through shafts or tunnels.
Surface mining is basically employed when deposits of commercially viable minerals or rock are found
closer to the surface; that is, where overstrain (surface material covering the valuable deposit) is
relatively very less or the material of interest is structurally unsuitable for heavy handling or tunneling (as
would usually be the case for sand, cinder, and gravel).
Where ever minerals occur deep below the earths crest or the overburden is too thick or the mineral
occurs as strands in hard rock, Underground mining methods are employed to extract the valuable
mineral deposits.
Surface mines are naturally extended until either the valuable deposit is exhausted, or the cost of de-
cresting larger volumes of overburden makes further mining an uneconomic option to shoulder.
In most types of surface mining, heavy paraphernalia's such as earthmovers are utilized. They 1st
remove the overburden the soil and rock above the deposit. Then followed by the huge machines, such
as dragline excavators,extract the mineral.
It is a known fact that Mother Earth contributes largely to the wealth of the world. The mining takes
place in those areas where the growth of vegetation is very minimal or at times does not exist due to the
surface conditions. The most important method used to extract the minerals from the earth is surface
mining. It is surprising to notice that 70 percent of the minerals extracted from the earth are through this
process. The basic material used for construction purposes like crushed rocks, sand and gravel is
obtained through this method.

After the discovery of certain kinds of mineral deposits in a particular area a method has to be evaluated
to extract these minerals. The selection is based on technical and environmental aspects and surface
mining is preferred to extract the minerals from the surface area. As compared to underground mining
this method of mining removes soil and rock overlying the mineral deposit. The equipment used for this
process is always heavy such as earth movers, dragline excavators or bucket wheel excavators.
Types of surface mining
Strip mining:
This process involves the method of extracting the mineral by removing soil and rock which are deposited
on the surface.Coal and Lignite are the two principle minerals that are extracted through this method.
This kind of mining can be done when the mineral to be extracted almost near to the surface.This
process is divided into area stripping and contour stripping. This method of striping is common on flat
land to extract the mineral over a large area.

Open-pit mining:
This type of mining involves the extraction of rock or minerals from the earth by forming an open pit.
This process differs from the other method which requires digging into the earth. This method of mining
is carried out where useful minerals or rocks are found near the surface. When the surface material
covering the valuable material is relatively thin this kind of mining is more suitable.
Open cast mines are dug on benches which are usually four to sixty meter intervals and the machinery
used depends on the size of the area. The flat part of the wall is known as the bench where as the
inclined portion of the sections are known as batter. To prevent the damage from rock falls the walls of
the pit has to be dug on less than vertical angle. A crude, temporary road is usually found at the side of
the pit for the movement of trucks carrying ore or waste rocks. The waste rocks are always piled up on
the borders of the open pit. This waste dump is arranged in rows and stepped to lower the degradation.
The next step is rehabilitation. This is the process by which the land is returned to the original state after
the process of mining is done. Various processes are involved to bring it to the original state. Another
way is an adaptive use of mines by which the mines are reused and they develop the closed open pit
mines into parks. The reclaimed mine sites are used for small economic activities which may also include
dumping of sludge waste etc.
Mountaintop removal:
Another method involved in this category aims at mining the summit or the long and narrow edge of the
mountain. The main mineral extracted by this method is coal. Coal is mined by removing the land above
the seams. This method of coal mining is mainly conducted on the Appalachia Mountain in the United
States.

The coal cannot be mined using simple machines. Explosives are used to mine the coal and the excess
coals are dumped in the nearby valley. This method is less expensive and requires only a few employees.
There is controversy as to whether the coal mining is safe as it is being removed from the mountain top.
But the coal industry asserts that it is safer than the underground mining. The environmental studies
warn that this process can damage the environment and also the health of human beings. Another
positive impact of Mountain mining is that the reclaimed area is suitable for many purposes and the flat
terrain can support rapid development for human population. However, the blasting of mountain top
releases large amount of dust and tiny materials into the air leading to the pollution that could be a
health hazard.
Dredging:
This is a method by which underwater minerals are extracted. It is usually used to make waterways for
boats and navigation canals for the passage of container ships to save time. The mineral can be
extracted from under water in cheap and efficient way. Oil refining is done mainly by this method.

High wall Mining:

High wall mining is another form of surface mining .In this method the Hydraulic Push - beam Transfer
Mechanism is used to cut across the earth's surface and extract the coal. In this process the machine
penetrates deep into the earth's surface to produce large volume of coal. High wall miners have
penetrated to the depth of around a thousand feet into the coal seam and capable of going further with
the support of advanced techniques. High wall mining accompanied by water pumping and proper
mapping can produce large quantities of coal, however the cost of production is also higher compared to
other forms of mining.The environmental impact of surface mining is quite extensive that could damage
vegetation and water resources leading to controversial projects being stalled. The projects have caused
numerous environmental issues leading to large scale destruction of forests endangering wildlife and flora
and fauna. These methods of mining contribute 70 percent to the economy of the country. As the
materials cannot be grown or created in the lab these techniques are adopted. Though the impact of this
process is a threat to the environment and to human life, modern methods have been adopted to
safeguard the life and natural beauty. In spite of the modern improvements, this process of excavation
still remains as a dangerous occupation throughout the world. Last but not the least it is not to be
forgotten that minerals are useful and important for a nation to develop economically.
Underground Mining

Underground mining is carried out when the rocks, minerals, or precious stones are located at a
distance far beneath the ground to be extracted with surface mining. To facilitate the minerals to be
taken out of the mine, the miners construct underground rooms to work in. The mining company selects
the best feasible way to get the minerals extracted out.
Most mining is carried out using; Continuous mining that employs a continuous mining mechanism to cut
the coal deposits from the walls. This means there is less of blasting and drilling and utilizes fewer
miners down in the mines. It is safer than the yester year techniques of mining that is being described
on our coal mine tour page.
This kind of mining is done when the rock or mineral is on the side of a mountain. This makes it an easy,
cheaper way to mine. Minerals that are mined with draft mining are gold, coal etc. with slope mining, the
coal or mineral bed is located very deep and parallel to the ground. It is called a slope mine because the
shafts are slanted. Shaft mining has a vertical man shaft, a tunnel where men travel up and down in an
elevator. Shrinkage stoping is a flexible mining method for narrow ore bodies that need no backfill during
stoping. Long wall mining consists of multiple coal shearers mounted on a series of self-advancing
hydraulic ceiling supports.

Retreat mining is the last phase of a common type of coal mining technique referred to as room and pillar
mining. Retreat mining is a process that recovers the supporting coal pillars, working from the back of the
mine towards the entrance, hence the word retreat. Room and pillar mining advances inward, away from
the entrance of the mine. Other underground mining methods include Hard rock mining, bore hole
mining, drift and fill mining, long hole slope mining, sub level caving and block caving.

Two prominent ways through which underground mining is done are:

Underground mining (hard rock)
Underground mining (soft rock)