Overview of and topical guide to mining
The hammer and pick , two basic tools traditionally used in mining for breaking rock, together form a main heraldic symbol of mining and miners. It is also used to mark the location of mines on maps. In other locations, the pickaxe and shovel fill the same purpose
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to mining:
Mining – extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, usually (but not always) from an ore body, vein or (coal) seam. Any material that cannot be grown from agricultural processes, or created artificially in a laboratory or factory , is usually mined.
Mineral
Rock (geology) , an aggregate material usually made up of a number of minerals
Ore , rock containing a desired mineral
Ore genesis , the geological processes by which ore is formed and deposited
Ore grade , the amount of a desired mineral or metal that a quantity of ore contains
high grade ores are rich in the mineral desired, low-grade ores have less of the mineral desired
Gangue , minerals within the ore that are not desired; these are removed during ore processing
Vein (geology) a geological formation that often contains ore
Overburden , the material on top of a given mineral deposit (in surface mining, it has to be removed)
Some examples of materials that are extracted from the earth by mining include:
Types of mining and techniques [ edit ]
Surface mining , mining conducted down into the ground, but with the sky open above
Open-pit mining , where the overburden is removed and put in a different location, leaving a large pit at the end.
Strip mining , where the overburden is stripped off and placed onto the area where the mineral (usually coal) has already been mined out, allowing the surface to be returned to roughly how it was before
Mountaintop removal mining , where the overburden on a mountain is pushed off the mountain into the adjacent valley
Quarrying
Placer mining
Dredging
Hydraulic mining , using high-pressure jets of water to blast soil or hillsides apart
Sub-surface mining , mining conducted underground
Two main types of underground mining, classified by the characteristic of the rock being mined:
There are three directions by which an underground mine may be conducted:
Drift mining , mining horizontally
Shaft mining , mining vertically
Slope mining , mining at an inclined angle
Stoping is the process of extracting out the ore from underground, leaving a hole called a stope
Room and pillar
Longwall mining
Retreat mining
Fire-setting , a method used in stoping by setting fires to timber and letting the resulting collapse break up the rock
Steam shovel , used from the 19th century to the 1930s
Power shovel , derived from the steam shovel, but using electricity instead of steam
Excavator , derived from the steam shovel, but using hydraulics or pneumatics instead of steam
Draglines use buckets attached to long cable lines, rather than affixed to a beam
Bucket-wheel excavator , the largest moving land machines ever built
Dredge
Rock blasting
Explosives
Gunpowder or black powder, used from the 17th century to the mid-19th century
Dynamite , used from the mid-19th century into the 20th century, still used some today
ANFO , used from the 20th century, and the primary explosive in use today
Blasting gear
Detonator , a small explosive charge used to set off the main explosive
Blasting machine , a device used to generate or send an electric charge to the detonators
Vertical equipment
Equipment for transporting miners
Engines used in mining
Safety and environment [ edit ]
Ore dressing
General methods of ore processing
Methods peculiar to gold placer mining. Gold is much denser than many other minerals, various methods use this to separate it out:
Extractive metallurgy
Spoil tip , a pile where overburden is placed (which has NOT been processed)
Tailings , waste mineral material (gangue ) leftover AFTER processing
Slag , material left over from smelting
Acid mine drainage , liquid leached out of mines
Mining hazards and safety [ edit ]
Geography of mining [ edit ]
Mining of specific minerals, by country[ edit ]
Economics of mining [ edit ]
People associated with mining [ edit ]
miner , is a person who is involved in the act of mining
prospector , a person who is expert in searching for and assessing the value of
Leaders and innovators in mining [ edit ]