1. Lesson Mining
More than a ton of waste may remain after extracting just a few hundredths of an ounce of gold.

2. Lesson 13.2 Mining
What Is Mined?
Ores: Groups of minerals that are mined so metal or metals can be removed
Nonmetallic minerals: Minerals, including gemstones, that as a whole have valuable properties
Fuels: Minerals that can be used to generate energy
Did You Know? About 100 minerals are considered gemstones, including diamond, topaz, and jade.

3. Process of Mining and Mineral Use
Lesson 13.2 Mining
Process of Mining and Mineral Use
From initial exploration to disposal, mining and mineral use involve many steps.

4. Mining Methods Surface mining Strip mining Open pit mining
Lesson 13.2 Mining
Mining Methods
Surface mining
Strip mining
Open pit mining
Mountaintop removal
Solution mining
Placer mining
Undersea mining
Subsurface mining
A strip mining operation in Wyoming
Did You Know? Some subsurface mines in South Africa extend 4 km underground.

5. Lesson 13.2 Mining
Strip Mining
The practice of mining a seam of mineral, by first removing a long strip of overlying soil and rock
Strip mining is only practical when the ore body is relatively near the surface.
There are two forms of strip mining: area stripping and contour stripping.
Area Stripping: used on fairly flat terrain to extract deposits over a large area.
Contour Stripping: used in hilly terrain where the ore deposit usually follows the contour of the land.

6. Lesson 13.2 Mining
Strip Mining

7. Lesson 13.2 Mining
Subsurface Mining
Digging tunnels or shafts into the Earth to reach ore deposits
Ore, for processing, and waste rock, for disposal, are brought to the surface through the tunnels and shafts.

8. Lesson 13.2 Mining
Subsurface Mining

9. Lesson 13.2 Mining
Open Pit Mining
A method of extracting ore from the Earth by its removal from a large pit
Different than strip mining because it goes down deeper into the Earth,
Ore
Ore
Strip Mining
Open Pit

10. Lesson 13.2 Mining
Open Pit Mining
Lavender Mine, Bisbee AZ

11. Mountaintop Removal Involves the mining of the top of a mountain.
Lesson 13.2 Mining
Mountaintop Removal
Involves the mining of the top of a mountain.
Entire ore bodies are extracted from a mountain, hill, or ridge by removing the land above the seams, usually through explosives.
The land is dumped back on the ridge and compacted to reflect the original shape of the mountain

12. Lesson 13.2 Mining
Mountaintop Removal

13. Lesson 13.2 Mining
Solution mining
Used to recover minerals such as copper and uranium through boreholes drilled into a deposit
The process initially involves drilling of holes into the ore deposit. Explosives are then used to create open pathways in the deposit for solution to penetrate.
A solution is pumped into the deposit where it makes contact with the ore.
The solution bearing the dissolved ore content is then pumped to the surface and processed.

14. Lesson 13.2 Mining
Solution mining

15. Lesson 13.2 Mining
Placer Mining
This type of mining takes valuable minerals from the sediments put down by rivers
Rivers erode the land, taking out valuable minerals while they do so
Sediment rich water is then placed through a filtration system, where the valuable minerals are kept and the rest put back into the river

16. Lesson 13.2 Mining
Placer Mining

17. Lesson 13.2 Mining
Undersea Mining
Large machines suck or scoop up large amounts of sand and gravel from the sea floor
The gravel and sand is then processed to extract valuable minerals
More concentrated mineral deposits can be found and gathered from hydrothermal vents
It is not very cost effective, and thus has been largely unsuccessful

18. Lesson 13.2 Mining
Undersea Mining

19. Lesson 13.2 Mining
Processing Ore
Ores must be processed to gain access to the metals they contain. This occurs in three stages
Breakdown of the ore
Separation from the ore
Metal production

20. Breakdown of Ore Ore is crushed and ground into tiny pieces
Lesson 13.2 Mining
Breakdown of Ore
Ore is crushed and ground into tiny pieces
Particles must be small enough to properly separate the different minerals from each other

21. Separation of Ore Crushed ore is separated into metals and tailings
Lesson 13.2 Mining
Separation of Ore
Crushed ore is separated into metals and tailings
Tailings: the waste product and unwanted particles
Several methods of ore separation. The most common is froth flotation
In this method, chemicals are added to the ground up ore to make the desired minerals float on top of water
Once they float, they can be easily separated

22. Lesson 13.2 Mining
Metal Production
Once the ore has been separated, metals can be produced by smelting
In smelting, crushed ore is put into a furnace and heated to its melting point
Once it is melted, the impurities separate from the ore, giving the pure quantities of the metal desired

23. Lesson 13.2 Mining
Processing Ore