SURFACE MINING METHODS

Surface Mining methods may be tabulated into two basic types:

1. Aqueous Extraction Methods

A. Placer Mining
I. Panning and Sluicing
II. Hydraulicking
III. Dredging
B. Solution Mining

2. Mechanical Extraction Methods

I. Open pit mining
II. Open cast (strip) mining
III. Quarrying
IV. Auger or highwall mining

Advantages of surface mining over underground mining

1. High standards of safety and better working conditions of labor.
2. Possibility of using powerful, highly efficient machinery to increase labor productivity and to reduce
production cost.
3. Simple work planning.
4. Possibility of selective and more complete extraction of the mineral from the earth.
5. Lower capital investments and shorter construction terms than those of an underground mine of the
same capacity.
6. Surface mining output can be increased more rapidly than that of an underground mine.

Disadvantages of surface mining

1. Affected by surface adverse weather (rain, snow in winter) in some locations
2. Undesirable environmental problems, such as surface scaring, dust, noise and blasting vibrations as
well as waste disposal.

1. Aqueous Extraction Methods

A. Placer Mining
Placer deposits
Natural concentration of heavy minerals caused by the effect of gravity on moving particles. When heavy,
stable minerals are freed from their matrix by weathering processes, they are slowly washed downslope
into streams that quickly winnow the lighter matrix.

Thus, the heavy minerals become concentrated in stream, beach, and lag (residual) gravels and constitute
workable ore deposits. Minerals that form placer deposits have high specific gravity, are chemically
resistant to weathering, and are durable; such minerals include gold, platinum, cassiterite, magnetite,
chromite, ilmenite, rutile, native copper, zircon, monazite, and various gemstones.

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 Fig. 1: Formation of a placer deposit

Chemically resistant minerals weather from a vein deposit, move downhill by mass-wasting, and are
concentrated by flowing water into a stream placer.

There are several varieties of placer deposits: stream or alluvial placers; eluvial placers; beach placers;
and eolian placers. Stream placers, by far the most important, have yielded the most placer gold,
cassiterite, platinum, and gemstones. Primitive mining probably began with such deposits, and their
ease of mining and sometime great richness have made them the cause of some of the world’s greatest
gold and diamond “rushes.” Stream placers depend on swiftly flowing water for their concentration.
Because the ability to transport solid material varies approximately as the square of the velocity, the flow
rate plays an important part; thus, where the velocity decreases, heavy minerals are deposited much more
quickly than the light ones. Examples of stream placers include the rich gold deposits of Alaska and the
Klondike, the platinum placers of the Urals, the tin (cassiterite) deposits of Malaysia, Thailand, and
Indonesia, and the diamond placers of Congo (Kinshasa) and Angola.

Eluvial placers form on hillslopes from weathered deposits. They are not acted on by streams but by
rainfall and wind, which carry away the light materials; thus, they may be considered intermediate in the
formation of stream placers. Examples include the earlier worked gold deposits of Australia and the
cassiterite placers of Malaysia.

Beach placers form on seashores where wave action and shore currents shift materials, the lighter more
rapidly than the heavier, thus concentrating them. Among the examples of beach placers are the gold
deposits of Nome, Alaska; the zircon sands of Brazil and Australia; the black sands (magnetite) of Oregon
and California; and the diamond-bearing marine gravels of Namaqualand, South Africa.

Eolian placers may form in arid areas where wind, not water, acts as the concentrating agent, removing
fine particles of the lighter dross. The gold deposits of some parts of the Australian desert are examples.

Placer mining adopted for the mining of concentration of minerals from detrital materials by selective
mining in running water. A prime requirement is that the material be in or near water and on or near the
ground surface. Placer mining can subdivide as: Panning and Sluicing, Hydraulic Mining and Dredging.

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I. PANNING AND SLUICING
Panning was used in traditional prospecting of gold mining in placer deposits where water was
plentiful and ore, e.g. gold, silver, precious stones was concentrated in layers or pockets. Panning can
only be used when the ore or valuable mineral is heavier than the gangue. Production is very limited.
Panning is useful as a sampling method, and is used for prospecting/exploration purposes in tracing
placer deposits to the vein or ore source.
Sluicing used in early gold production days has been replaced largely by higher production methods.
Water and trough-shaped box (sluice box) are used to separate the ore or waste. Ground slope is
necessary for the water to carry material through the sluice box.

Fig. 2: Sluice box

Fig. 3: function of the Sluice Box

A sluice box is like a long tray which is open at both ends. Most will have riffles, spaced evenly along
the length of the sluice, usually every few inches, perpendicular to the length of the sluice. Riffles
cause small barriers to the water flow which creates eddies in the water, giving the heavier material
(black sand and gold) a chance to drop to the bottom, behind the riffles.

The sluice is usually placed in a creek or river and can be held in place by larger rocks, packed in against
the sides or one large flat rock on top. The slope or angle of the sluice can be adjusted, by arranging

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 rocks under the sluice. Also the flow of water can be adjusted by placing a large rock in front of the
intake end of the sluice, to divert some of the water around the box. You have to adjust these variables
several times until you get the material moving through the box at the correct speed leaving just the
black sand in the riffles.

How do riffles work

The reason that riffles work is twofold. First, there is an eddy created behind each riffle, causing a
temporary lull in the water flow. The material that is flowing is in a liquid state. This causes the heavies
to be at the very bottom of the flow. As the flow passes over a riffle, the heavies will fall to the bottom
behind a riffle.

Second, the riffles are spaced a couple of inches apart, and act as a series of small dams, stopping the
creep of the heavy material down the sluice. Without them, there would be a slow, but sure creep of
gold out the end of the sluice.

Normally most of the trapped gold will be behind the first couple of riffles. This is because the heavies
fall fast.

II. HYDRAULIC MINING

This involves larger placer deposits that generally contain gravel and boulders. Large quantities of
water are directed through pipes and nozzles (giants) to disintegrate the deposit. The system may
involve a ground sluice where face material is washed through the sluice box. Alternatively, the sand,
gravel and valuable mineral are picked up by a gravel pump and pumped to a sluice or separating
plant.

Fig. 4(a): Placer mining by hydraulicking Fig. 4b: Hydraulic monitor in operation

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 Fig. 4(c): Hydraulic Elevator Function Fig. 4(d): Gravel pump and monitors.

III. DREDGING
Dredging is the underwater excavation of a placer deposit of detritus type rock material. For this
approach, the deposit is usually low grade, large in area. Dredging may be in old river beds or in active
river courses. Dredging may also be done off-shore under suitable conditions. Dredging recovery is
high where the bedrock is hard and flat and bottom loss is minimal.

Dredges are fundamentally of two types:

a) Bucket ladder type, which consists of a ladder like truss to which is attached an endless chain
with buckets. Basically, a continuous large volume digging machine usually incorporating gravity
concentrator facilities e.g. jigs, a tail stacker that allows waste discharge, the dredge is a floating
plant mounted on a barge-like pontoon (Fig. 5a).

b) Suction cutter dredges are basically floating pontoons with a pump mounted on board which
excavates the material by suction and transport it to a store-based floating concentration plant.
This suction pipe may be equipped with a cutter head for improving excavation of materials (Fig.
5b).

Beach sand deposits of rutile, ilmenite and zircon are frequently handled by this method.

The bucket ladder dredge can be used in water depth of 4 to 30 metres and has been used for tin
mining to depths of 48 metres. Suction dredges operate in pond depths of up to 9 metres; at great
depths. Suction pump lift must be assisted by jetting the intake.

Because dredging is usually on a large scale, tailings disposal and restoration of the land and water
are of major concern.

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Fig. 5a: Typical bucket ladder type dredge

Fig. 5b: General layout of a cutter-head suction dredge

B. Solution Mining
Solution mining is used to recover deep deposits that would be uneconomical using underground
methods, but only if the ore can be easily dissolved by a solvent. In this method, holes are drilled from the
surface into the deposit. A solvent is pumped down one hole, and the resulting solution with the dissolved
mineral is pumped out another hole. This solute or pregnant liquor, as it is often known, is processed to
extract the mineral of interest. In some cases only one hole is used, but the hole has an inner and outer
section to separate the in-going solvent from the out-coming solute. Water, acid, and steam are common
solvents. A few examples of commodities mined by this method include uranium and sulfur.

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 2. Mechanical Extraction Methods
I. Open pit mining
Open pit mining is the process of mining any near-surface deposit by means of a surface pit excavated
using one or more horizontal benches.
Single-bench open-pit mining can be employed to mine any comparatively shallow mineral deposit in any
rock type: thus quarry and strip mining may be single bench operations. In an open pit mine, a bench
forms a single level of operation above which the material is excavated from the bench face (Fig. 6). The
maximum stable bench height and bench slope depend upon the rock type that forms the bench. In some
instances, bench heights up to 60 metres have been used. Obviously, face stability is critical otherwise
excavation equipment is likely to be in danger should the face collapse.
Typical single bench operations include deposits of sand and gravel, coal seams with limited overburden
(usually referred to as strip mining) and near-surface exposures of dimension stone and aggregate stone
(quarry mining). Production by single-bench operations is limited only to the capacity of equipment that
can be employed in the pits and by the number of areas along the face that can be excavated
simultaneously.

Fig.6: Single bench – Open pit mine

Multiple-Benches can normally be employed in massive thick-bedded, wide-vein or tabular deposit that
lies at or extends to a depth greater than that suitable for single –bench mining. The rock material may
be of any type strong enough to permit the development of benches of economic height and may consist
of unconsolidated material to hard rock material.

Fig. 7: Multiple bench Open Pit Mine.

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 Fig. 8: Section through an open pit in an idealized tabular ore body.

Where pit depth is in excess of 8 to 15 metres, more than one bench is necessary. With more than one
bench, the bench will vary according to the width of the excavation (loading) and haulage equipment as
well as the rock material in the bench face. Width may be from 6 to 20 metres. Benches are normally used
as road ways, either forming a spiral to the bottom of the pit or with ramps between horizontal benches.

Fig. 9: Spiral transport.

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Bench slopes are usually steeper than the pit slope, because rock can maintain a nearly vertical wall for
short heights. (Fig. 8)

Pit slopes vary from 200 to 300 from horizontal. During the final mining cycle before abandonment, the pit
slope may be steepened to increase recovery.

Environmental aspects related to multiple bench mining are those of waste disposal, noise, dust,
blasting vibrations and land restoration. Water may or may not be an environmental problem.

Steepened
slope

Fig. 10: Relationship between working slope and final pit slopes

Fig.11: Stages of quarry contour development.

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 Fig.12: Access

Fig.13: Access

II. Open cast (strip) mining

Strip mining is the term applied mainly to the mining of near surface coal seams. However, other mineral
deposits with low cohesive strengths can also be mined by this method. Most stripping involves bedded
sedimentary formations; blasting may or may not be required depending upon the type of overburden
(Fig-15).

Coal seams mined by stripping range from approx. one metre to ten metres or more in thickness: thicker
and multiple seam deposits are usually mined by benching.

Strip mining is usually accomplished by removing the overburden and coal from a strip across one
dimension of the deposit.

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 Fig. 14: Strip Mine

III. QUARRYING
Quarrying is the surface mining of rock , such as marble, granite, limestone, shale etc., that are valuable
for either their mechanical or chemical properties. The deposit is usually is either massive or bedded and
is suitable for bench mining. Two basic types of quarries are for dimension stone and broken stone, i.e.
dimension stone and aggregate.

Dimension stone quarries have benches with vertical faces and the overall pit slope is steep. Dimension
stone quarrying produces rectangular blocks of rock that are roughly sized and shaped. The term
dimension stone encompasses certain stone products used for architectural purposes such as granite
countertops, marble flooring, and monuments, among a few others. The goal in the mining of these

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 products is to remove large slabs that can be cut and machined to exacting architectural applications. The
stone is usually broken loose by some manner of cutting instead of blasting. This is done to preserve its
strength and shape. Production is very selective and in very limited quantities. Unlike open pit mining in
which benching is required to prevent failure of the sides or pit slopes, the high strength and competency
of the rock mass in quarries is such that vertical walls of 300 m or more can be excavated.

Quarry mining of aggregate or chemical stone is usually done by blasting to fragment the rock (e.g. mining
of Eppawala rock phosphate). The degree of fragmentation depends on the product desired.

IV. Auger or Highwall Mining

This is a method to recover additional coal from under the highwall of a contour mine, when the ultimate
stripping ratio has been achieved in open cast operations. It is sometimes referred to as secondary mining
because it is done after the open cast mine has reached an economic limit.

Fig. 15: Highwall mining

Fig. 16: Auger in highwall mining

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