TYPES OF MINING

After discovering of the mineraldeposit ,delineation and evaluation of an appropriate mining

method should be selected , basing on technical, economic and environmentally
consideration i.e

a) The type of equipment to be used

b)The economic and quality value of the mineral

c)the stripping ratio.

NB Stripping ratio is the ratio of the volume or mass /weight of the burden to the volume or
the mass/weight of the mineral.

Stripping ratio=mass of burden/mass of mineral

The burden is the waste or the top soil which is covering the mineral depositwhich should be
removed in order to expose the mineral deposit

There are two types of mining which can be used in the extraction of a mineral deposit from
the earth crust and these are

1. Surface mining

2. Underground mining

1.0 Surface mining

It is the type of mining whereby the operations exclusively involve personnel working on the
surface without provisions of manned underground operations .

This type of mining is manly employed when the ore is closer to the surface and also when
the stripping ratio of the top surface is low .

Ore reserves suitable for surface mining can be classified initially as:
  Relatively horizontal stratified reserves with a thin or thick covering of overburden
 Stratified vein-type deposits with an inclination steeper than the natural angle of
repose of the material so that waste cannot be tipped inside the pit
 Massive deposits, deep and very large laterally such that dumping of the waste within
the pit is not possible.

Surface mining can be classified into two categories and these are :

1. Mechanical surface mining

2. Aqueous extraction

1.1 Mechanical Surface mining

Employ mechanical processes in a dry environment to recover minerals, encompassing
the specific mining methods of
 Open pit mining/Open cast mining
 Quaryying of dimensional stone
 Highwall
 Methods of mechanical surface mining
The mechanical surface mining methods are:
1. Striip mining
2. Terrace mining
3. Open pit mining /Open cast
4. Quaryying of dimensional stone
5. Highwall/AUGER MINING

1.1.1 Strip mining

Strip mining is ideally applied where the surface of the ground and the orebody itself are
relatively horizontal and not too deep under the surface, and a wide area is available to be
mined in a series of strips

1.1.2 Terrace mining

 Where the overburden is too thick (or the floor of the pit (ie. The ore inclination) is too
steeply dipping to allow waste dumping directly over the pit (as is the case with a dragline
and strip mining), it is necessary to use intermediate cyclic or continuous transport (eg.
trucks or conveyors) to transport the overburden to where it can be tipped back into the
previously mined void.
It is a multi-benched sideways-moving method, the whole mine moves over the ore
reserve from one end to the other, but not necessarily in a single bench. The number of
benches used is usually a function of the excavation depth and type of machinery used
(typically between 10

1.1.3 Open pit mining

This is the traditional cone-shaped excavation (although it can be any

shape, depending on the size and shape of the orebody) that is used
when the orebody is typically pipe-shaped, vein-type, steeply dipping
stratified or irregular. Although it is most often associated with
metallic orebodies, eg. Palabora copper, Mamatwan and Sishen iron-
ore, it can be used for any deposit that suits the geometry – most
typically diamond pipes – Venetia, Koffiefontein and Finsch.

The excavation is normally by rope- or hydraulic shovels with trucks

carrying both ore and waste. Drill and blast is most often used, which
makes the process cyclic. Waste is dumped outside the mined-out area
since no room is available within the pit. Waste is placed as close to the
edge of the pit as possible, to minimise transport costs. Figure 2.7
illustrates the terminology used in the pit design and Figure 2.8 the mining
method.
Benches are normally excavated from 2-15m in height in stacks of 3 to 4, in between
which is a crest on which the haul road is placed. When the number of benches in the
stack increases, the road gradient increases too. Benches in the stack have a steep face
angle whilst the stack and overall slope angles are flatter, thereby helping to prevent slope
failures. From an analysis of overall slope geometry, it is clear that as steep a slope as
possible should be mined, to reduce the overall stripping ratio. However, this rule is
limited by the maximum gradient of the haul road – typically 8-10% which requires
frequent wider crests, and the need to have flatter slope angles in place to provide slope
stability.

1.1.4 Dimension Stone quarrying

It is quite similar to open pit mining ,but rock breakage without blasting is almost
exclusively employed to cut prismatic blocks or tabular slabs of rock.The high labor
intensity and cost associates with cutting stone makes quarrying the most expensive
surface mining method.

1.1.5 Highwall mining

It is a coal mining method for recovery of outcropped coal by mechanical excavation
without removal of overburden. A Continuous miner with single or multiple
augers/cutting heads is operated underground and controlled remotely by crew located
outside.Augering can be regarded as a supplementary method for open cast mining in
cases when coal seams in the highwall would otherwise remain unmined or when rugged
terrain would preclude economic stripping by conventional durface methods.Quarrying
 of dimensionstone and high wall mining are specialised and less frequently used
methods .

1.2 Aqueous Surface mining

Involves the use of water or liquid solvent to flush minerals from underground deposits
,either by hydraulic disintergration or physiochemical dissolution.
In this type of surface mining .,the methods used are
1.Placer mining
2.Soultion mining

1.2.1 Placer mining

It id intended for recovery of heavy minerals from alluvial or placer deposits ,this also
referred as alluvial mining .

Is the mining of stream/river bed deposits (also known as alluvial deposits) for minerals.
These alluvial deposits are formed when minerals are eroded from their source, and then
transported by water to a new location. When the sediments are deposited, they settle
according to their weight, with heavier, more valuable minerals like gold, diamonds and
platinum often being deposited at the same time.
Alluvial mining is a very simple process. It involves digging and sifting through mud,
sand and gravel using shovels, sieves, or even bare hands.”
The disadvantages of alluvial mining are;
1. the operations are not very productive,
2. the operations lack safety
3. The operations tend to have a high environmental impact.
4. It is illegal
Of course, alluvial mining can also be done more efficiently and more safely by mining
companies; that said, with most miners focused on larger deposits, the process is less
common.

1.2.2 Solution mining of Metallic Ores;

Solution mining is also known as In-situ leaching (ISL). It involves leaving the ore where it is
in the ground, and recovering the minerals from it by dissolving them and pumping the
pregnant solution to the surface where the minerals can be recovered.There is little surface
disturbance and no tailings or waste rock is generated. However, the orebody needs to be
permeable to the liquids used, and located so that they do not contaminate ground water away
from the orebody.Uranium ISL uses the native groundwater in the orebody which is fortified
with a complexing agent and in most cases an oxidant. It is then pumped through the
underground orebody to recover the minerals in it by leaching. Once the pregnant solution is
returned to the surface, the uranium is recovered in much the same way as in any other
uranium plant (mill). In uranium solution mining different chemicals are used for dissolving
the minerals such as;

(i) hydrogen peroxide and the complexing agent sulphuric acid

(ii) Higher concentrations of the acid in case no oxidant is being applied.
(iii) Alkali leach can also be applied if there is the presence of significant quantities of
acid-consuming minerals such as gypsum and limestone in the host aquifers.

1.2.3 Solution mining of water-soluble ores

This solution mining is also used for mining of underground, water-soluble minerals,
usually using one or more drilled wells to dissolve the minerals with water, (not by using
acids used in metal ore leaching). Minerals such as salt, potash, trona, and magnesium
salts may be produced by pumping saturated fluid from underground caverns. The
caverns are created by pumping out the saturated 'brine' while pumping in fresh water as a
controlled production process. The minerals are then recovered from the saturated fluid
by recrystallization. Completed salt caverns are commonly used for underground storage
of natural gas, crude oil, other hydrocarbons or chemicals, and are now viewed as a
possible energy storage solution for green energy! The caverns are in this way more
valuable than the minerals produced during cavern development