Types of Mining
Jayce Vitty and Greg Villarroel
Surface vs. Subsurface Mining
There are two usual types of mining: surface and subsurface mining. We are going to explain both types.
Surface Mining
Mining in which soil and rock on top of the mineral deposit are removed.
Strip Mining
The excavation of earth, rock, and other material to uncover a tabular, lens-shaped, or layered mineral reserve.
Open Pit
Extracting rock or minerals from the earth by their removal from an open pit or borrow.
Mountain Top Removal
Any method of coal mining that destroys a mountaintop or ridge line.
Subsurface Mining
The removal of ores and minerals from underground.
Slope
A sloping access shaft that travels downward towards the desired material
Drift
The mining of an ore deposit by underground methods or the working of coal seams accessed bu adits driven out into the surface outcrop of the coal bed.
Shaft
The method of excavating a vertical or near vertical channel from the top down, with no initial access to the bottom.
Fracking
There is also a method of retrieving oil from the ground, called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. This is a process of drilling sown into the earth before a high pressure water mixture is directed at the rock to release the gas inside.