INTRODUCTION TO MINING METHODS
How is an appropriate mining method
determined?
By studying and considering all the factors present
to produce a mining method which is technically
feasible for the ore geometry and ground
conditions, while also being low-cost.
- Determined during Exploration
- during pre-feasibility study >
potential underground or surface
mining method
- during feasibility study > specific
underground or surface mining
method
Factors in the Selection
I. Spatial Characteristic of the Deposit
1. Size (especially height, thickness, and
overall dimensions)
2. Shape (tabular, lenticular, massive, or
Irregular)
3. Attitude (inclination or dip)
4. Depth (mean and extreme values, stripping
ratio)
5. Regularity of the ore boundaries
II. Geologic and Hydrologic Conditions
1. Mineralogy and petrography (eg. sulfides
vs oxides in copper)
2. Chemical composition (primary and
secondary minerals)
3. Deposit structure (folds, faults,
discontinuities, intrusions)
4. Planes of weakness (points, fractures,
shear zones, cleavage in minerals, cleat in
coal)
5. Uniformity of grade
6. Alteration and weathered zone
7. Existence of strata gasses
III. Geotechnical (Soil and Rock Mechanics)
Properties
1. Elastic properties (strength, modulus of
elasticity, Poisson's ratio, etc.)
2. Plastic or viscoelastic behavior (flow,
creep)
3. State of stress (premining, postmining)
4. Rock mass rating (overall ability of
openings to stand unsupported or with
support)
5. Other physical properties affecting
competence (specific gravity, voids,
porosity, permeability, moisture content,
etc.)
IV. Economic Considerations
1. Reserves (tonnage and grade)
2. Production rate (output per unit time)
3. Mine life (total operating period for
development and exploitation)
4. Productivity (tons/employee hour)
5. Comparative mining costs of suitable
methods
6. Comparative capital costs of suitable
methods
V. Technological Factors
1. Recovery (proportion of the ore that is
extracted)
2. Dilution (amount of waste that must be
produced with the ore)
3. Flexibility of the method to changing
conditions
4. Selectivity of the method (ability to extract
ore and leave waste)
5. Concentration or dispersion of workings
6. Ability to mechanize and automate
7. Capital and labor intensities
VI. Environmental Concerns
1. Ground control to maintain integrity of
openings
2. Subsidence, or caving effects at the surface
3. Atmospheric control (ventilation, air
quality control, heat and humidity control)
4. Availability of suitable waste disposal
areas
5. Workforce (availability, training, living,
community conditions)
6. Comparative safety conditions of the
suitable mining methods
Engineering Evaluation
1. Conceptual Study - the physical
characteristics and production potentials of
a number of mining methods, layouts, and
systems are assessed.
2. Engineering Study - the preceding
concepts are quantified and compared,
resulting in firm designs and costs.
3. Detailed Design Study - drawings and
specifications for construction for the
preferred method are prepared. The result
Is a final engineering report on which the
investment decisions, equipment
purchases, and construction schedule are
based.

Surface Mining - in which mining of ore, coal, or
stone is carried out at the surface with essentially
no exposure of miners underground is referred to
as surface mining.
Definition of Terms
Bench - the horizontal rock shelf in open pit
mining.
Toe - the bottom portion of a bench in an open pit
mine.
Crest - the top edge of a bench in an open pit
mine.
Bench slope - the inclined distance that connects
a toe and a crest of the same bench.
Bench height - the vertical distance between each
horizontal level or bench of a pit.
Berm - the horizontal distance between the bench
toe and crest at the same elevation.
Bench Angle - the angle that a bench slope makes
to the horizontal.
Pit Angle - the angle that connects the top most
toe to the bottom crest (floor) of a pit.
Working Slope - a slope angle with a relatively
high factor of safety so that the slopes are stable
during the exploitation of the deposit.
Ultimate Slope - when the pit is in its final stage,
the slopes may be steepened to achieve a lower
stripping ratio.
Overburden/spoil - the detrital or other material
overlying a deposit.
Stripping - the term applied to removing
overlying material to expose the deposit and
excavating overburden within the confines of the
pit after the ore is exposed.
Tonnage Factor - the factor used in converting
the volume of a material into weight or tonnage.
Stripping ratio - weight of waste to be
extracted/removed to mined one unit weight of ore
(waste to ore ratio).
Maximum Allowable Stripping Ratio - volume
of overburden/weight of ore at the economic pit
limit where breakeven occurs.
Overall Stripping Ratio - volume of
overburden/weight of ore for the entire ore body
or cross section.
Surface Mining Mechanical Extraction
Methods
1. Open-pit Mining
2. Quarrying
3. Open Cast (Strip) Mining
4. Auger or Highwall Mining
1. Open-pit Mining
The process of mining any hear-surface deposit by
means of a surface pit excavated using one or
more horizontal benches: Open pit mines are often
used in mining metallic or nonmetallic deposits
and more sparingly in coal and other bedded
deposits.
The purpose of the benches:
- to control the depth of the blastholes, the
slope of the pit walls, and the dangers
of:highwall faces.
- the benches also provide enough length of
face to allow sustained, uninterrupted
production.
- individual benches are designed to
accommodate the materials-handling
equipment utilized, The reach of the
excavator limits the height of the bench.
- the width must be sufficient to contain
most of the flyrock from a bench blast and
provide maneuvering room for excavator
and haulage units.
- the slope of the bench and of the pit itself
is the maximum dictated by rock or soil
mechanics concerns
Applicabilities
Ore strength: any
Rock strength: any
Deposit shape: any, but prefer deposits parallel to
the surface
Deposit dip: any prefer deposits with low dip
Deposit size: large or thick
Ore grade, car be very low if other conditions are
favorable
Ore uniformity: prefer uniform ore, but blending
can be easily implemented in most operations
Depth: shallow to intermediate (limited by the
economic strip ratio)
Working slope - slopes are stable during the
exploitation of the deposit.
Ultimate slope - slopes are steepened In its final
stage to achieve low stripping ratio.
Catch bench - material that is dislodged from the
pitfalls is caught on the benches:
2. Quarrying
Dimension stone quarrying produces rectangular
blocks of rock that are roughly sized and shaped.
Surface quarries resemble open pits, but the
benches (called faces) are lower and generally
vertical.
Applicable to stone and aggregates.
Applicabilities
Ore strength: structurally sound free of unwanted
defects
Rock strength: any
Deposit shape: thick headed.or massive; large in
lateral extent
Deposit dip: any, if thick Deposit size: large,
thick
Ore grade: high in physical and visual qualities
Ore Uniformity: uniform
Depth: shallow to intermediate
3. Open Cast (Strip) Mining
Casting is the term commonly used in mining to
indicate this process of excavation and dumping
into a final location
The depositing of spoil (overburden).in mined-out
areas means that the mining activity is
concentrated in a relatively small area.
The reclamation can immediately.follow mining,
performed as soon as possible after mining
The pit is kept open for a relatively short time,
permitting a steeper slope to the overburden bank
(called a highwall).
Variations
● Area Mining - is carried out on relatively
flat terrain with flat-lying seams; mining
cuts are made in straight, parallel panels,
advancing across the property.
● Contour Mining - is conducted in hilly or
mountainous terrain, with cutes placed on
the contours of the topography
Applicabilities
Ore Strength: any
Rock strength: any
Deposit shape: tabular, bedded
Deposit dip: any, prefer horizontal or low dip
Deposit size: prefer continuous deposit, large in
lateral extent
Ore grade: can be low if other conditions are
favorable
Ore uniformity: prefer uniformity
Depth: shallow to moderate to control stripping
ratio
4. Auger or Highwall Mining
Auger mining is a mining method that recovers
coal or other minerals tom under the highwall
when the ultimate stripping ratio has been
achieved in open cast mining operations.
An augering machine on a continuous mining
device that bores parallel holes or entries into the
highwall extracts the coal
Variations
● Traditional Auger Mining - traditional
augering equipment was developed in the
1940s to drill holes in the coal sear for the
pit bottom.
● Highwall Mining - is the practice of
sending a small, remotely controlled
continuous miner into the high wall to
mine parallel entries of about 10 ft (3.m)
In width and the height of the coal seam.
Applicabilities
Ore strength: any
Rock strength: any
Deposit shapes: tabular, bedded
Deposit dip: low, nearly horizontal
Deposit size: small to large
Ore grade: can be low
Ore Uniformity: uniform in thickness, free of
partings
Depth: shallow to moderate
Aqueous Extraction - depends on water or
another liquid liquid (e.g., dilute sulfuric acid,
weak cyanide solution, or ammonium carbonate)
to extract the mineral. Aqueous extraction
includes all the methods that employ water or a
liquid solvent to recover minerals from the earth.
Both hydraulic action of a liquid (normally water)
and solution chemical attack on the minerals are
commonly utilized.
1.Placer Mining
● Hydraulicking
● Dredging
2.Solution Mining
● Borehole extraction
● Leaching
● Evaporation
1.Placer Mining
A placer deposit is any concentration of minerals
that has been redeposited in unconsolidated form
by the action of a fluid.
 ● Alluvial (continental detrital), eolian
(wind), marine, or glacial
● Sources of Gold, diamonds, tin, titanium,
platinum, tungsten, chromite, magnetite,
coal, phosphates, and sand and gravel
Properties that make a particular placer mineable
by aqueous methods:
1. Material amenable to disintegration of
water under a pressure (or mechanical
dislodgement and hydraulic transport)
2. Adequate water supply available at the
required head
3. Adequate space for waste disposal
Properties that make a particular placer minable
by aqueous methods:
1. Difference in density, or a similar property
between ore minerals and gangue to allow
efficient mineral processing
2. Natural gradient amenable to hydraulic
transport of mineral (if hydraulicking)
3. Ability to comply with environmental
regulations
HYDRAULICKING - a high-pressure stream of
water is directed against a bank to undercut and
cave it.
Water is applied to the bank by a hydraulic
monitor or giant, a nozzle designated to a direct
hydraulic energy at the bank.
Sluice/Riffle Box- used used as a channel along
which gold-bearing gravel is carried by a stream
of water.
Applicabilities
Ore strength: prefer heavy minerals in
unconsolidated soil or gravel with minimum
boulders
Rock strength: unconsolidated
Deposit shape: Placer type, tabular bank or bench
Deposit dip: Nearly flat (2 to 6% grade)
Deposit size: Small to intermediate with thickness
of 15-200 ft (5-60m)
Ore grade: Can be very low
Ore uniformity: Fairly uniform
Depth: Very shallow, little overburden
Other: Requires large quantities of water
DREDGING
Dredging is the underwater excavation of placer
deposits, usually carried out from a floating vessel
called a dredge, which may incorporate processing
and waste disposal facilities.
In dredging, a pond must be created by damming
a stream, using a pumping system, or using the
existing groundwater if it exists at a sufficiently
high level
Applicabilities:
Ore strength: unconsolidated deposit of soil,
gravel, or similar material; some boulders
permissible, depending on dredge type; prefer
valuable mineral to be heavier than waste
Rock strength: unconsolidated
Deposit shape: placer, tabular, bank or bench
Deposit dip: preferably flat (maximum of 2% to
6% grade)
Deposit size: intermediate to large (thickness 25 to
200 ft, or 8 to 60 m)
Ore grade: can be very low
Ore uniformity: fairly uniform
Depth: very shallow, little overburden
Other: moderate quantities of water required (200
to 2000 gal/min, or 13
to 125 I/sec)
2. Solution Mining
Solution mining is defined as the subclass of
aqueous surface mining methods in which
minerals are recovered by leaching, dissolution,
melting, or slurrying processes,
● Borehole Extraction
The wells are generally used to inject water and/or
lixiviant into the mineral deposit to effect the
mineral extraction.
Possible applications:
1. Melting of sulfur (Frasch process)
2. In situ leaching of uranium, copper, gold,
and silver
3. Dissolution of salt, potash, and trona
4. Slurrying of phosphate, kaolin, oil sands,
coal, gilsonite, and uranium
(technologically feasible but not widely
utilized because of economics)
● Leaching
Leaching is the chemical extraction of metals or
minerals from the confines of a deposit or from
material already mined.
In Situ Leaching
- If the extraction is carried out on mineral
in place.
Heap Leaching
- If it is performed in previously mined
dumps, tailing, or slag piles
Vat Leaching
- If it is performed in vats or tanks
● Evaporation
An evaporation is a sedimentary deposit
composed primarily of minerals produced from a
saline solution by evaporation in a closed basin.
- Halite (NaCl), potash, and trona
- Lithium, boron, and magnesium
Saline solution are pumped into large shallow
ponds to allow water to evaporate
A warn, dry, climate and level land are typically
required at these mines.
Applicabilities:
Ore: brines or evaporites that may be turned into
brines
Rock strength: medium to strong if the salts are
extracted in situ
Deposit type: large underground evaporite or
mineral content in brines
Deposit dip: not important
Ore grade: variable
Ore uniformity: variable
Ore depth: variable; prefer natural surface brines
Underground Mining - the mineral exploitation
in which all extraction is carried out beneath the
earth’s surface. Underground methods are
exploited when the depth of the deposit, the
stripping ratio of overburden to ore (or coal or
stone), or both become excessive for surface
exploitation.
Definition of Terms
Back - roof, top, or overlying surface of an
underground excavation
Bottom - floor or underlying surface of an
underground excavation capping; Waste material
overlying the mineral deposit
Country Rock - waste material adjacent to a
mineral deposits
Pillar - unmined portion of the deposit; providing
support to the roof or hanging wall
Crown Pillar - portion of the deposit overlying an
excavation and left in place as a pillar
Dip - Angle of inclination of a deposit; measured
from the horizontal; also pitch or attitude\
Floor - bottom or underlying surface of an
underground excavation Footwall : Wall rock
under the deposit
Hanging wall - wall rock above a deposit
Rib - side wall of an excavation; also rib pillar
Roof - back, top, or overlying surface of an
excavation
Sill pillar - portion of the deposit underlying an
excavation and left in place as a pillar Strike:
Horizontal bearing of a tabular deposit at its
surface intersection
Wall Rock - country rock boundary adjacent to a
deposit
Gob - broken, caved, and mined-out portion of the
deposit
Directional Terms
Breast - advancing in a near-horizontal direction;
also the working face of an opening
Inby - toward the working face, toward the
entrance
Outby - away from the working face, toward the
entrance
Overhand - advancing in an upward direction
Underhand - advancing in a downward direction
UG Excavation Terms
Adit - main horizontal or near-horizontal
underground opening, with single access to the
surface
Bell - funnel-shaped excavation formed at the top
of a raise to move bulk material by gravity from a
stope to a drawpoint
Bleeder - funnel-shaped excavation formed at the
top of a raise to move bulk material by gravity
from a stope to a drawpoint
Bleeder - exhaust ventilation lateral
Chute - opening from a drawpoint, utilizing
gravity flow to direct bulk material from a bell or
orepass to load a conveyance
Crosscut - tertiary or horizontal opening, often
connecting drifts, entries, or rooms; oriented
perpendicularly to the strike of a pitching deposit;
also breakthrough
Decline - secondary inclined opening, driven
downward to connect levels, sometimes on the dip
of a deposit; also declined shaft
Drawpoint - loading point beneath a stope,
utilizing gravity to move bulk material downward
and into a conveyance, by a chute or loading
machine; also boxhole
Drift - primary or secondary horizontal or
near-horizontal opening; oriented parallel to the
strike of a pitching deposit
Entry - secondary horizontal or near-horizontal
opening; usually driven in multiples
Finger Raise - vertical or near-vertical opening
used to transfer bulk materials from a stope to a
drawpoint; often an interconnected set of raises
Grizzly - coarse screening or scalping device that
prevents oversized bulk material from entering a
material transfer system; constructed of rails, bars,
beams, etc.
Haulageway - horizontal opening used primarily
for materials handling
Stope - large exploitation opening, usually
inclined or vertical, but may also be horizontal
Sublevel - secondary or intermediate level
between main levels or horizons, usually close to
the exploitation area
Transfer Point - location in the
materials-handling system, either haulage or
hoisting, where bulk material is transferred
between conveyances
Tunnel - main horizontal or near-horizontal
opening, with access to the surface at both ends
Undercut - low horizontal opening excavated
under a portion of a deposit, usually a stope, to
include breakage and caving of the deposit; also a
narrow kerf cut in the face of a mineral deposit to
facilitate breakage
Winze - secondary or tertiary vertical or
near-vertical opening, driven downward from one
level to another
UNDERGROUND MINING: Unsupported
-consists of the methods in which the rock is
essentially self-supporting and for which no major
artificial support (such as artificially placed pillars
or fill) is necessary to carry the load of the
overlying rock.
1. Room and Pillar
2. Stope and Pillar
3. Shrinkage Pillar
4. Sublevel Pillar
-The geologic materials can sustain the
superincumbent load
-Very old method applied to horizontal or nearly
horizontal deposits
-Openings are driven orthogonally at regular
intervals in a mineral deposit-forming rectangular
or square pillars for natural support
-Development openings are called entries,
production openings are called rooms, when
connected forms pillars
1. Room and Pillar
Very old method applied to horizontal or nearly
horizontal deposits
Openings are driven othogonally and at regular
intervals in a mineral deposit-forming rectangular
or square pillars for natural support
Development openings are called entries, or
production openings are called rooms, when
connected form pillars
Applicabilities:
Ore Strength: weak to hard
Rock Strength: moderate to strong
Deposit shape: tabular
Deposit dip: low (<15°)
Deposit size: large area extent
Ore grade: moderate
Ore uniformity: fairly uniform, particularly in
thickness
Depth: shallow to moderate (<1500 ft or 450 m
for coal, 2000ft or 600m for non coal, <3000 ft or
900m for potash)
2. Stope and Pillar
Openings are driven horizontally in regular or
random pattern to form pillars for ground support
The most widely used of all underground
hard-rock mining procedures other than coal
Pillars are partially extracted if the pillars are
larger than necessary to provide good support
Applicabilities
Ore strength: moderate to strong
Rock strength: moderate to strong
Deposit shape: tabular, lens-type deposit
Deposit dip: preferably flat: dips <30° mineable
Deposit size: any, preferably large areal extent,
moderate thickness on bench if greater (maximum
of 300ft or 90m)
Ore grade: low to moderate, mostly commonly
Ore uniformity: Variable; lean ore or waste left in
pillars if possible
Depth: up to 2000ft (900m) in competent rock, up
to 3000 ft (1450m) in very strong rock
3. Shrinkage Stoping
-an overhand method in which the ore is mined in
horizontal slices from bottom to top and remains
in the stops as temporary support to the walls and
to provide a working platform for the mines
-60% to 70% of the broken ore remains in the
stope
Applicabilities
Ore strength: strong
Rock strength: fairly strong to strong
Deposit shape: tabular to lenticular
Deposit dip: fairly steep (>45°, prefer 60 to 90° to
facilitate ore flow
Deposit size: narrow to moderate width (3 to 100
ft or 1 to 30m, fairly large extent
Ore grade: fairly high
Ore uniformity: uniform, blending not easily
performed
Depth: shallow to moderate
4. Sublevel Stoping
Verticcal mining method in which large open is
created within the vein
This open stope is not meant to be occupied by the
miners,therfore, all work of drilling and blasting
must be performed fron sublevels within ore block
Variations include blasthole method, open-ending
and vertical crated method
Applicabilities
Ore strength: moderate to strong, less competent
than slope and pillar mining
Rock strength: fairly strong to strong
Deposite shape: tabular or lenticular, regular dip
and boundaries helpful
Deposit dip: fairly steep (>45°, preferably 60 to
90°)
Deposit size: moderate to think width (20 to 100 ft
or 6 to 30m) fairly large extent
Ore grade: Moderate
Ore uniformity: fairly uniform
Depth: varies from fairly shallow to deep (once
used at 8000 ft or 2.4 km)
UNDERGROUND MINING: Supported
Methods that require some type of backfill to
provide substantial amounts of artificial support to
maintain sustainability in the exploitation
openings of the mines
1. Cut and Fill
2. Stull Stoping
3. Square Set Stoping
1.Cut and Fill
The ore is extracted horizontal slices and replaced
with backfill material
Mining Begins by taking the first horizontal slice,
either at the top or bottom of the slope
Backfill materials can be waste fill, pneumatic fill,
hydraulic with dilute slurry and high density
hydraulic fill
Applicabilities
Ore strength: moderately weak to strong
Rock strength: weak to fairly weak
Deposit shape: tabular, can be irregular,
discontinuous
Deposit dip: moderate to fairly steep (>45°), can
accommodate flatter deposit if orepasses are
steeper than the angle of response
Deposit size: narrow to moderate midst (6 to 100
ft or 2 to 30m), fairly large extent
Ore grade: fairly high
Ore uniformity: moderate, variable (can sort waste
in stope)
Depth: moderate to deep (typically <4000 to 8000
ft or 1.2 to 2.4km)
2.Stull Stoping
It is identified as overhand sloping when
systematic or random timbering, coupled with
pillars of fill, are used to support hanging wall
Timbers are placed between the foot wall and
hanging walls, which constitute the only artificial
support provided during the excavation of a stope
Stopes that become large are then stabilized by
backfilling portions of the open area with fill
material
Applicabilities:
Ore strength: fairly strong to strong, more
competent than for cut-and-fill stoping
Rock strength: moderate to fairly week
Deposit shape: Approximately tabular; can be
irregular
Deposit dip: works best at <45°; can
accommodate flatter deposits at higher cost
Deposit size: relatively thin (<12 ft or 3.5m)
Ore grade: fairly high to high
3.Square Set Stoping
Small blocks of ore are systematically extracted
and replaced by a prismatic framework of timber
sets, framed into an integrated support structure
and backfilled level to provide substantial support
to the surrounding rocks
It is capable of application to the weakest ore and
rock under the heaviest of ground conditions
Applicabilities:
Ore strength: weak to very weak
Rock strength: weak to very weak
Deposit shape: any, regular to irregular
Deposit dip: any, preferably >45° so that gravity
flow can be used
Deposit size: any, generally small
Ore grade: high
UNDERGROUND MINING: Caving
Caving method as those associated with induced,
controlled, massive caving of both ore body, the
overlying rock, or both, concurrent with and
essential to the conduct of mining.
1. Longwall
2. Sublevel caving
3. Block caving
1. Longwall
An exploitation method used in flat-lying,
relatively thin, tabular deposits in which a long
face is established to extract the mineral.
As a cut or slice is taken along the length of the
wall, the supports arc collapsed, advanced closer
to the face, and reengaged, allowing the roof to
cave behind. The caved area is called the gob.
Applicabilities:
Ore strength: any, but should crush rather than
yield under roof pressure; preferably material that
is weak and can be cut by continuous miner
Rock strength: weak to moderate, must break and
cave; ideally, thin-
bedded in intermediate roof; floor must be firm,
nonplastic
Deposit shape: tabular
Deposit dip: low ( < 12°), prefer flat, uniform
Deposit size: large in areal extent ( > 1 mi2 or 260
ha); thin-bedded (3 to 15 ft or l to 5 m); uniform
thickness
Ore grade: moderate
Ore uniformity: uniform (particularly in thickness)
2. Sublevel Caving
Overall mining progresses downward while the
ore between sublevels is broken overhand; the
overlying waste rock (hanging wall or capping)
caves into the void created as the ore is drawn off.
Extracts the ore through sublevels, which are
developed in the orebody at regular vertical
spacing. Waste is caved only.
Applicabilities:
Ore strength: moderate lo fairly strong, requiring
blasting; requires sufficient competence to stand
without excessive support; less strength than for
supported methods, but more than for block
caving
Rock strength: weak to fairly strong; may be
blocky, but should be
fractured or jointed and cavable; prefer moderate
to large fragments, no
fines to dilute ore
Deposit shape: tabular or massive (if elongated
along one axis, preferably
vertical); may be moderately irregular
Deposit dip: fairly steep (>60°) or vertical; can be
fairly flat if the deposit is thick
Deposit size: large, extensive vertical or areal
extent; thickness > 20 ft or
6m
3. Block Caving
The mining method in which masses, panels, or
blocks of ore are undercut to induce caving,
permitting the broken ore to be drawn off below.
If the deposit is overlain by capping or bounded
by a hanging wall, it caves too, breaking into the
void created by drawing the ore.
Caving is induced by undercutting the block by
blasting, destroying its ability to support the
overlying rock.
Applicabilities:
Ore strength: weak to moderate or fairly strong,
prefer friable, fractured, or jointed rock, not
blocky; should cave freely under own weight
when undercut; free running, not sticky if wet, not
readily oxidized
Rock strength: weak to moderate, similar to ore in
characteristics
Deposit shape: massive or thick tabular deposit,
fairly regular
Deposit dip: fairly steep ( > 60°) or vertical; can
be fairly flat if sufficiently thick
Deposit size: very large areal extent; thickness >
100 ft (30 m)
Ore grade: low, ideal for disseminated ore masses;
most suitable of
underground methods for low-grade deposits