Mining Methods

What determines the type of

mining?
Depth

of overburden
Size of the ore body
Shape of the ore body
Grade

What are the types of

mining?
Open

Pit
Underground
Solution

Open Pit Mining

Another type of open pit

mining
Strip

Mining
E.g. coal, placer

Some photos and

machinery used in openpit mining

?Dinky Toy?

Drilling in pit

Crushing in pit

Loading ore in pit

Some types of underground

mining
Room

and Pillar
Cut and Fill
Long wall (coal)

Room and Pillar

Cut and Fill

Long Wall

Solution Mining

Beneficiation
1.Concentration of ore minerals
removes the ore mineral from the waste
2. Smelting
removes the metal from the ore mineral
by a variety of ways
3. Heap Leaching
removes metal from the ore by solution

Methods of concentrating
Grinding

of ore to allow separation of

the ore minerals by:
Floatation
Magnets

Types of smelting
Roasting
Hydrometallurgy
Electrotwinning

Smelting

Result at Kidd Creek

Heap Leaching
In

this process, typically done for Au,

the ore is not ground, but rather,
crushed and piled on the surface.
Weak solutions percolate through the
material leaching out the desired
metals.
The solutions are collected and the
metals are precipitated