Mineral Exploration and Mining
CHAPTER :09
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■ Introduction to Mining Geology
♦ Historical background to mining
♦ Definition and elements of mining
♦ Stages in life of a mine
♦ Classification of mining methods
Surface and Underground mining
♦ Mining and its consequence
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Historical background to mining
From the prehistoric times to the present mining has played an
important part in human existence.
Mining is extraction of naturally occurring mineral, rock, solid,
liquid and gas from the earth for utilization of human being.
The history of mining important cultural eras associated with
The Stone Age(prior to 4000 B.C.E.)
The Bronze Age (4000 to 5000 B.C.E.)
The Iron Age (1500 B.C.E. to 1780 C.E.)
The Steel Age (1780 to 1945)
The Nuclear Age (1945 to the present)
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Definition and element of mining
The following are some of the commonly used mining terms:
Mine: an excavation made in the earth to extract minerals.
Mining: consists of the processes, occupation, and industry
concerned with the extraction of minerals from the earth.
Mining geology: the practice of applying geological
principles to evaluate the areal extent/coverage/ of a particular ore
body and how to mine it.
Mining engineering: the practice of applying engineering
principles to the development, planning, operation and
closure of mines.
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Mineral: a naturally occurring inorganic element or compound having an
orderly internal structure and a characteristic chemical composition,
crystal form and physical properties.
Rock: any naturally formed aggregate of one or more types of mineral
particles.
Dilution (waste rock dilution): It may come from internal waste, planned
waste (intentional dilution), accidental waste or geologic waste.
Resource/economic differences in the nature of mineral deposits is evident
in the following terms:
Ore: a natural aggregation of one or more solid minerals that can be
mined, processed and sold at a profit.
Gangue: the valueless mineral particles within an ore deposit
that must be discarded.
• Minerals other than ore present in a rock.
Waste: the material associated with an ore deposit that must be mined
to get at the ore and must then be discarded.
Gangue is a particular type of waste.
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Further subdivision of the types of minerals mined by humankind is
also common.
1. Metallic ores: those ores of the
■ Ferrous metals (iron, manganese, molybdenum, and tungsten)
■ Base metals (copper,lead, zinc, and tin)
■ Precious metals (Au,Ag, the platinum group metals),and
■ Radioactive minerals (uranium, thorium, and radium).
2. Non-metallic (industrial) minerals/rocks: is geological material of
commercially value excluding metallic ore, fossil fuels, gemstone &
water.
E.g. phosphate, potash, halite, sand, gravel, limestone, sulfur..etc.
3. Fossil fuels (mineral fuels): the organic mineral substances that can
be utilized as fuels.
E.g. coal, petroleum, natural gas, coal bed methane, and tar sands.
♦ It should be noted that the mining engineer is associated with
the extraction of nearly all these mineral resources.
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Stages in the life of a Mine
■ In modern mining they are expressed as stages in the life of a mine. These are:
I Prospecting ii. Exploration iii. Development iv. Exploitation & v Reclamation
1. Prospecting:-is the search for metallic ores or other valuable minerals (coal or
non-metallics).
■ B/c mineral deposits may be located either at or below the surface of the
earth.
Direct method:- consists of visual examination of either the exposure (outcrop) of
the deposit or the loose fragments (float) that have weathered away from the
outcrop.
Geologic studies of an area augment this simple, direct technique.
• By means of aerial photography, geologic maps, and structural assessment of
an area, the geologist gathers evidence by using direct methods to locate
mineral deposits.
Indirect method:- is searching for hidden mineral deposit\ore body is geophysics
method.
Geophysics is the science of detecting anomalies using physical
measurements through the analysis of gravitational, seismic, magnetic,
electrical, electromagnetic, and radiometric variables of the earth.
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Exploration : It determines as accurately as possible the size and value of a mineral
deposit, utilizing techniques similar to but more refined than those used in prospecting.
The line of demarcation between prospecting and exploration is not sharp; in fact, a
distinction may not be possible in some cases.
Exploration generally shifts to surface and subsurface locations, using a variety of
measurements to obtain a more positive picture of the extent and grade of the ore body.
When these steps have been achieved, the provision of a number of requirements;
access roads, power sources, mineral transportation systems, mineral processing
facilities, waste disposal areas, offices, and other support facilities must precede actual
mining in most cases.
Stripping of the overburden will then proceed if the minerals are to be mined at
thesurface.
Many metal mines are located along steeply dipping deposits and thus are opened
from shafts, while drifts, winzes, and raises serve the production areas.
Many coal and nonmetallic mines are found in nearly horizontal deposits.
Their primary openings may be drifts or entries, which may be distinctly different
from those of metal mines.
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Development
To create access to an ore body and building of mine plant
and equipment's.
• Access to the deposit must be gained either by:
i.Stripping the overburden, which is the soil and/or rock
covering the deposit, to expose the near-surface ore for mining or
ii. Excavating openings from the surface to access more deeply
buried deposits to prepare for underground mining.
In either case, certain preliminary development work, such as
acquiring water and mineral rights,
buying surface lands,
arranging for financing, and
preparing permit applications and an environmental
impact statement (EIS), will generally be required before
any development takes place.
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Sequence of Development
Major steps in the development are:
Land clearance
Location of surface plant
Location of waste dump
Equipment selection
Haul Road
Establishment of first bench
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Ex ploitation/mining
♦ Is associated with the actual recovery of minerals from the earth crust’s
in quantity.
■ Although development may continue, the emphasis in the production stage
is on production.
■ Usually only enough development is done prior to exploitation to
ensure that production, once started, can continue un-interrupted
throughout the life of the mine.
♦ There are manly two methods for extraction of minerals:
i. Underground/subsurface mining
ii.Surface mining
♦ Two fundamental tasks of mining:
a) Breaking the ore, and
b) Transporting it to the processing plant/beneficiation
In addition to these traditional exploitation methods, novel or
innovative mining methods are continually evolving.
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♦ Surface mining is a processes of
extracting of the mineral by
removal of overburden.
Overburden is the rock or waste
material which is lying which
minerals to be owned.
♦ Underground mining is used when the
deposit is too deep for surface
mining or there is a restriction on
the use of the surface land.
used for accessing and exploiting ore
bodies that are generally not exposed
on surface and due to technical or
economic reasons cannot be mined by
open pit methods.
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Figure 3.31: General layout of an underground mine, generalized after Hamrin (1982, 2001)
Factor influencing choose of mining methods
Shape of the deposit:
• tabular, cylindrical, spherical.
• Orientation/gradient of the deposit
ore body:
• sub- horizontal, sub-vertical.
• Ore-grade:
• high-grade vs low-grade.
• Depth to the ore body. The mining method selected for
exploitation is determined mainly by
• Availability of the machineries the characteristics of the mineral
• Economic valuable of minerals deposit and the limits imposed
by safety, technology, environmental
• economic factors are of primary concerns, and economics.
importance; therefore, low-cost-per- Geologic conditions, such as the dip, shape, and
ton mining method will normally be strength of the ore and the surirrorinding rock,
the best choice. play a key role in selecting the method.
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5. Mine Closure (Reclamation & Rehabilitation)
Reclamation to make land where a mine had been suitable for
future use.
Mine Reclamation
Recontouring land back to its original
topography
Improve soil quality by adding topsoil /
nutrients
Replanting with native, fast growing, early
successional species
Monitor the site for 5 – 10 years
More difficult in arid areas b/c difficult to
grow vegetation
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Stages in life of a mine
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Mining and Consequence
Environmental and Land use Impacts
Disruption of land surface, subsidence, erosion of solid mining waste,
acid mine drainage, air pollution and storage and leakage of liquid mining
waste.
Accidents and Health Hazards
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Economic- Political- Social- Psychological Impacts
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