Surface mining

Surface mining, method of extracting minerals near the surface of the Earth. The three most common types of surface mining are open-pit mining, strip mining, and quarrying. 

Bisbee: Lavender Pit

Open-pit mining

Open-pit mining, surface mining (q.v.) to obtain minerals other than coal.

open-pit mining

Strip mining

Strip mining, removal of soil and rock (overburden) above a layer or seam (particularly coal), followed by the removal of the exposed mineral.

Quarry

Quarry, place where dimension stone or aggregate (sand, gravel, crushed rock) is mined. The products of dimension stone quarries are prismatic blocks of rock such as marble, granite, limestone, sandstone, and slate. After cutting and polishing, these materials are used in the primary construction of buildings and monuments and also for decorative facing materials applied to the exterior and interior of buildings. Dimension stones are extracted in a highly selective manner, using time-consuming and expensive methods for freeing the blocks from the surrounding rock.

portland stone quarry

Sand, gravel, and crushed rock quarries employ standard surface-mining techniques. Crushed stone is used for concrete aggregate, for road building, and, in the case of limestone, as flux in blast furnaces and for chemical applications. The quarrying technique consists of drilling and blasting to fragment the rock. A large number of charges are fired at one time, producing up to 20,000 tons of broken stone in one blast. The broken stone is crushed into smaller pieces that are separated into uniform classes by screening.