1

INTRODUCTION TO MINING

1.1 MINING’S CONTRIBUTION TO CIVILIZATION

Mining may well have been the second of humankind’s earliest endeavors —
granted that agriculture was the first. The two industries ranked together as
the primary or basic industries of early civilization. Little has changed in the
importance of these industries since the beginning of civilization. If we consider
fishing and lumbering as part of agriculture and oil and gas production as part
of mining, then agriculture and mining continue to supply all the basic
resources used by modern civilization.
From prehistoric times to the present, mining has played an important part
in human existence (Madigan, 1981). Here the term mining is used in its
broadest context as encompassing the extraction of any naturally occurring
mineral substances — solid, liquid, and gas — from the earth or other heavenly
bodies for utilitarian purposes. The most prominent of these uses for minerals
are identified in Table 1.1.
The history of mining is fascinating. It parallels the history of civilization,
with many important cultural eras associated with and identified by various
minerals or their derivatives: the Stone Age (prior to 4000 ...), the Bronze
Age (4000 to 5000 ...), the Iron Age (1500 ... to 1780 ..), the Steel Age
(1780 to 1945), and the Nuclear Age (1945 to the present). Many milestones in
human history — Marco Polo’s journey to China, Vasco da Gama’s voyages
to Africa and India, Columbus’s discovery of the New World, and the modern
gold rushes that led to the settlement of California, Alaska, South Africa,
Australia, and the Canadian Klondike — were achieved with minerals provid-
ing a major incentive (Rickard, 1932). Other interesting aspects of mining and
metallurgical history can be found by referring to the historical record
provided by Gregory (1980), Raymond (1984), and Lacy and Lacy (1992).
1
2 INTRODUCTION TO MINING

Table 1.1 Humans’ Uses of Minerals

Need or Use Purpose Age

Tools and utensils Food, shelter Prehistoric

Weapons Hunting, defense, warfare Prehistoric
Ornaments and decoration Jewelry, cosmetics, dye Ancient
Currency Monetary exchange Early
Structures and devices Shelter, transport Early
Energy Heat, power Medieval
Machinery Industry Modern
Electronics Computers, communications Modern
Nuclear fission Power, warfare Modern

The abundance of minerals also provides a method of creating wealth.

Minerals can be marketed on the open market, enabling the countries that
possess them to obtain valuable currency from countries that do not. This
generally results in the minerals-rich countries being the great civilizations of
the world while the ‘have-not’ countries generally suffer from a lower standard
of living. For more on this topic, see Section 1.6. The ability to use mineral
resources as a means of creating wealth opens the possibility that a given
country or countries will attempt to control the entire market in a particular
mineral, that is, to create an economic cartel in that mineral. In 1973, the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) attempted to control
oil prices in a bold maneuver to obtain windfall profits from the oil they
produced. Although successful in the short run, the cartel eventually lost
effectiveness because of increased oil production elsewhere and difficulty in
controlling their own member countries. For a few years, OPEC was successful
at regulating petroleum prices in an awesome display of the value of possessing
and producing some of the world’s most valuable minerals. Other cartels have
likewise been attempted. However, the greater freedom in international trade
now makes such an attempt less likely to succeed.

1.2 MINING TERMINOLOGY

There are many terms and expressions unique to mining that characterize the
field and identify the user of such terms as a ‘‘mining person.’’ The student of
mining is thus advised to become familiar with all the terms used in mining,
particularly those that are peculiar to either mines or minerals. Most of the
mining terminology is introduced in the sections of this book where they are
most applicable. Some general terms are best defined at the outset; these are
outlined here. For a complete list of mining terminology, see a standard
reference (Gregory, 1980; American Geological Institute, 1997). The following
three terms are closely related:
 MINING TERMINOLOGY 3

Mine: an excavation made in the earth to extract minerals

Mining: the activity, occupation, and industry concerned with the extraction
of minerals
Mining engineering: the practice of applying engineering principles to the
development, planning, operation, closure, and reclamation of mines

Some terms distinguish various types of mined minerals. Geologically, one can
distinguish the following mineral categories:

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

Economic differences in the nature of mineral deposits is evident in the

following terms:

Ore: a mineral deposit that has sufficient utility and value to be mined at a
profit.
Gangue: the valueless mineral particles within an ore deposit that must be
discarded.
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.

A further subdivision of the types of minerals mined by humankind is also

common. These terms are often used in the industry to differentiate between
the fuels, metals, and nonmetallic minerals. The following are the most
common terms used in this differentiation:

Metallic ores: those ores of the ferrous metals (iron, manganese, molyb-
denum, and tungsten), the base metals (copper, lead, zinc, and tin), the
precious metals (gold, silver, the platinum group metals), and the radio-
active minerals (uranium, thorium, and radium).
Nonmetallic minerals (also known as industrial minerals): the nonfuel
mineral ores that are not associated with the production of metals. These
include phosphate, potash, halite, trona, sand, gravel, limestone, sulfur,
and many others.
Fossil fuels (also known as mineral fuels): the organic mineral substances
that can be utilized as fuels, such as coal, petroleum, natural gas, coalbed
methane, gilsonite, and tar sands.

It should be noted that the mining engineer is associated with the extraction
of nearly all these mineral resources. However, the production of petroleum
4 INTRODUCTION TO MINING

and natural gas has evolved into a separate industry with a specialized
technology of its own. These mineral products will not be discussed in any
detail here.
The essence of mining in extracting mineral wealth from the earth is to drive
an excavation or excavations from the surface to the mineral deposit. Nor-
mally, these openings into the earth are meant to allow personnel to enter into
the underground deposit. However, boreholes are at times used to extract the
mineral values from the earth. These fields of boreholes are also called mines,
as they are the means to mine a mineral deposit, even if no one enters into the
geologic realm of the deposit. Note that when the economic profitability of a
mineral deposit has been established with some confidence, ore or ore deposit
is preferred as the descriptive term for the mineral occurrence. However, coal
and industrial mineral deposits are often not so designated, even if their
profitability has been firmly established. If the excavation used for mining is
entirely open or operated from the surface, it is termed a surface mine. If the
excavation consists of openings for human entry below the earth’s surface, it is
called an underground mine. The details of the procedure, layout, and equip-
ment used in the mine distinguish the mining method. This is determined by the
geologic, physical, environmental, economic, and legal circumstances that
pertain to the ore deposit being mined.
Mining is never properly done in isolation, nor is it an entity in itself. It is
preceded by geologic investigations that locate the deposit and economic
analyses that prove it financially feasible. Following extraction of the fuel,
industrial mineral, or metallic ore, the run-of-mine material is generally cleaned
or concentrated. This preparation or beneficiation of the mineral into a
higher-quality product is termed mineral processing. The mineral products so
produced may then undergo further concentration, refinement, or fabrication
during conversion, smelting, or refining to provide consumer products. The end
step in converting a mineral material into a useful product is marketing.
Quite frequently, excavation in the earth is employed for purposes other
than mining. These include civil and military works in which the object is to
produce a stable opening of a desired size, orientation, and permanence.
Examples are vehicular, water, and sewer tunnels, plus underground storage
facilities, waste disposal areas, and military installations. Many of these
excavations are produced by means of standard mining technology.
Professionally, the fields of endeavor associated with the mineral industries
are linked to the phase or stage in which an activity occurs. Locating and
exploring a mineral deposit fall in the general province of geology and the earth
sciences. Mining engineering, already defined, encompasses the proving (with
the geologist), planning, developing, and exploiting of a mineral deposit. The
mining engineer may also be involved with the closure and reclamation of
the mine property, although he or she may share those duties with those in the
environmental fields. The fields of processing, refining, and fabricating are
assigned to metallurgy, although there is often some overlap in the mineral
processing area with mining engineering.
 ADVANCEMENTS IN MINING TECHNOLOGY 5

1.3 ADVANCEMENTS IN MINING TECHNOLOGY

As one of humanity’s earliest endeavors — and certainly one of its first

organized industries — mining has an ancient and venerable history (Gregory,
1980). To understand modern mining practices, it is useful to trace the
evolution of mining technology, which (as pointed out earlier in this chapter)
has paralleled human evolution and the advance of civilization.
Mining in its simplest form began with Paleolithic humans some 450,000
years ago, evidenced by the flint implements that have been found with the
bones of early humans from the Old Stone Age (Lewis and Clark, 1964). Our
ancestors extracted pieces from loose masses of flint or from easily accessed
outcrops and, using crude methods of chipping the flint, shaped them into tools
and weapons. By the New Stone Age, humans had progressed to underground
mining in systematic openings 2 to 3 ft (0.6 to 0.9 m) in height and more than
30 ft (9 m) in depth (Stoces, 1954). However, the oldest known underground
mine, a hematite mine at Bomvu Ridge, Swaziland (Gregory, 1980), is from the
Old Stone Age and believed to be about 40,000 years old. Early miners
employed crude methods of ground control, ventilation, haulage, hoisting,
lighting, and rock breakage. Nonetheless, mines attained depths of 800 ft
(250 m) by early Egyptian times.
Metallic minerals also attracted the attention of prehistoric humans. In-
itially, metals were used in their native form, probably obtained by washing
river gravel in placer deposits. With the advent of the Bronze and Iron Ages,
however, humans discovered smelting and learned to reduce ores into pure
metals or alloys, which greatly improved their ability to use these metals.
The first challenge for early miners was to break the ore and loosen it from
the surrounding rock mass. Often, their crude tools made of bone, wood, and
stone were no match for the harder rock, unless the rock contained crevices or
cracks that could be opened by wedging or prying. As a result, they soon
devised a revolutionary technique called fire setting, whereby they first heated
the rock to expand it and then doused it with cold water to contract and break
it. This was one of the first great advances in the science of rock breakage and
had a greater impact than any other discovery until dynamite was invented by
Alfred Nobel in 1867.
Mining technology, like that of all industry, languished during the Dark
Ages. Notably, a political development in 1185 improved the standing of
mining and the status of miners, when the bishop of Trent granted a charter
to miners in his domain. It gave miners legal as well as social rights, including
the right to stake mineral claims. A milestone in the history of mining, the edict
has had long-term consequences that persist to this day.
The greatest impact on the need for and use of minerals, however, was
provided by the Industrial Revolution at the close of the eighteenth century.
Along with the soaring demand for minerals came spectacular improvements
in mining technology, especially in scientific concepts and mechanization, that
have continued to this day.
6 INTRODUCTION TO MINING

During the last two centuries, there has been great progress in mining
technology in many different areas. Such progress is often made in an
evolutionary rather than a revolutionary manner. Yet every once in a while, a
revolutionary discovery comes along and changes the process of mining
profoundly. During the nineteenth century, the invention of dynamite was the
most important advance. In the twentieth century, the invention of continuous
mining equipment, which extracts the softer minerals like coal without the use
of explosives, was perhaps the most notable of these acccomplishments. The
first continuous miner was tested in about 1940, with its usefulness greatly
enhanced by the development of tungsten carbide inserts in 1945 by McKenna
Metals Company (now Kennametal). By 1950 the continuous miner had
started to replace other coal mining methods. The era of mechanized mining
had begun.
It is not possible to chronicle all of the developments that made mining what
it is today. A more complete chronology of the important events is outlined in
Table 1.2. It has been prepared using the references cited in Section 1.1, as well
as those by Stack (1982) and Molloy (1986). These sources can be used to
obtain a more comprehensive list of the crucial events in the development of
mining technology.

1.4 STAGES IN THE LIFE OF A MINE

The overall sequence of activities in modern mining is often compared with the
five stages in the life of a mine: prospecting, exploration, development, exploita-
tion, and reclamation. Prospecting and exploration, precursors to actual min-
ing, are linked and sometimes combined. Geologists and mining engineers
often share responsibility for these two stages — geologists more involved with
the former, mining engineers more with the latter. Likewise, development and
exploitation are closely related stages; they are usually considered to constitute
mining proper and are the main province of the mining engineer. Reclamation
has been added to these stages since the first edition, to reflect the times.
Closure and reclamation of the mine site has become a necessary part of the
mine life cycle because of the demands of society for a cleaner environment and
stricter laws regulating the abandonment of a mine. The overall process of
developing a mine with the future uses of the land in mind is termed sustainable
development. This concept was defined in a book entitled Our Common Future
(World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987) as ‘‘develop-
ment that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs.’’ The ideas presented therein have
been widely endorsed as a practical means of providing for future generations.
The five stages in the life of a mine are summarized in Table 1.3 and are
discussed in the following sections. There will be more extensive discussion of
these stages in Chapters 2, 3, and 4.
 STAGES IN THE LIFE OF A MINE 7

TABLE 1.2 Chronological Development of Mining Technology

Date Event

450,000 ... First mining (at surface), by Paleolithic humans for stone implements.
40,000 Surface mining progresses underground, in Swaziland, Africa.
30,000 Fired clay pots used in Czechoslovakia.
18,000 Possible use of gold and copper in native form.
5000 Fire setting, used by Egyptians to break rock.
4000 Early use of fabricated metals; start of Bronze Age.
3400 First recorded mining, of turquoise by Egyptians in Sinai.
3000 Probable first smelting, of copper with coal by Chinese; first use of iron
implements by Egyptians.
2000 Earliest known gold artifacts in New World, in Peru.
1000 Steel used by Greeks.
100 .. Thriving Roman mining industry.
122 Coal used by Romans in present-day United Kingdom.
1185 Edict by bishop of Trent gives rights to miners.
1524 First recorded mining in New World, by Spaniards in Cuba.
1550 First use of lift pump, at Joachimstal, Czechoslovakia.
1556 First mining technical work, De Re Metallica, published in Germany by
Georgius Agricola.
1585 Discovery of iron ore in North America, in North Carolina.
1600s Mining commences in eastern United States (iron, coal, lead, gold).
1627 Explosives first used in European mines, in Hungary (possible prior use
in China).
1646 First blast furnace installed in North America, in Massachusetts.
1716 First school of mines established, at Joachimstal, Czechoslovakia.
1780 Beginning of Industrial Revolution; pumps are first modern machines
used in mines.
1800s Mining progresses in United States; gold rushes help open the West.
1815 Sir Humphrey Davy invents miner’s safety lamp in England.
1855 Bessemer steel process first used, in England.
1867 Dynamite invented by Nobel, applied to mining.
1903 Era of mechanization and mass production opens in U.S. mining with
development of first low-grade copper porphyry, in Utah; although
the first modern mine was an open pit, subsequent operations were
underground as well.
1940 First continuous miner initiates the era of mining without explosives.
1945 Tungsten carbide bits developed by McKenna Metals Company (now
Kennametal).

1.4.1 Prospecting
Prospecting, the first stage in the utilization of a mineral deposit, is the search
for ores or other valuable minerals (coal or nonmetallics). Because mineral
deposits may be located either at or below the surface of the earth, both direct
and indirect prospecting techniques are employed.
8 INTRODUCTION TO MINING

TABLE 1.3 Stages in the Life of a Mine

Stage/
(Project Name) Procedure Time Cost/Unit Cost

Precursors to Mining
1. Prospecting Search for ore 1 — 3 yr $0.2 — 10 million
(Mineral deposit) a. Prospecting methods or $0.05 — 1.00/ton
Direct: physical ($0.05 — 1.10/tonne)
geologic
Indirect: geophysical,
geochemical
b. Locate favorable loci
(maps, literature, old mines)
c. Air: aerial photography,
airborne geophysics,
satellite
d. Surface: ground
geophysics, geology
e. Spot anomaly, analyze,
evaluate
2. Exploration Defining extent and value of 2 — 5 yr $1 — 15 million
(Ore body) ore (examination/evaluation or $0.20 — 1.50/ton
a. Sample (drilling or ($0.22 — 1.65/tonne)
excavation), assay, test
b. Estimate tonnage and grade
c. Valuate deposit (Hoskold
formula or discount
method): present
value : income 9 cost
Feasibility study: make
decision to abandon or develop.

Mining Proper
3. Development Opening up ore deposit for 2 — 5 yr $10 — 500 million
(Prospect) production or $0.25 — 10.00/ton
a. Acquire mining rights ($0.275 — 11.00/tonne)
(purchase or lease), if
not done in stage 2
b. File environmental impact
statement, technology
assessment, permit
c. Construct access roads,
transport system
d. Locate surface plant,
construct facilities
e. Excavate deposit (strip
or sink shaft)
 STAGES IN THE LIFE OF A MINE 9

Stage/
(Project Name) Procedure Time Cost/Unit Cost

4. Exploitation Large-scale production of 10 — 30 yr $5 — 75 million/yr

(Mine) ore or $2.00 — 150/ton
a. Factors in choice of ($2.20 — 165/tonne)
method: geologic,
geographic, economic,
environmental, societal
safety
b. Types of mining methods
Surface: open pit, open
cast, etc.
Underground: room and
pillar, block caving, etc.
c. Monitor costs and economic
payback (3 — 10 yr)

Post-mining
5. Reclamation Restoration of site 1 — 10 yr $1 — 20 million
(Real estate) a. Removal of plant and $0.20 — 4.00/ton
buildings ($0.22 — 4.40/tonne)
b. Reclamation of waste
and tailings dumps
c. Monitoring of discharges

The direct method of discovery, normally limited to surface deposits, 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 the entire area augment this simple, direct technique. By means of
aerial photography, geologic maps, and structural assessment of an area, the
geologist gathers evidence by direct methods to locate mineral deposits. Precise
mapping and structural analysis plus microscopic studies of samples also
enable the geologist to locate the hidden as well as surface mineralization.
The most valuable scientific tool employed in the indirect search for hidden
mineral deposits is geophysics, the science of detecting anomalies using
physical measurements of gravitational, seismic, magnetic, electrical, elec-
tromagnetic, and radiometric variables of the earth. The methods are applied
from the air, using aircraft and satellites; on the surface of the earth; and
beneath the earth, using methods that probe below the topography. Geochem-
istry, the quantitative analysis of soil, rock, and water samples, and geobotany,
the analysis of plant growth patterns, can also be employed as prospecting
tools.
10 INTRODUCTION TO MINING

1.4.2 Exploration
The second stage in the life of a mine, exploration, 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. Representative samples may
be subjected to chemical, metallurgical, X ray, spectrographic, or radiometric
evaluation techniques that are meant to enhance the investigator’s knowledge
of the mineral deposit. Samples are obtained by chipping outcrops, trenching,
tunneling, and drilling; in addition, borehole logs may be provided to study the
geologic and structural makeup of the deposit. Rotary, percussion, or diamond
drills can be used for exploration purposes. However, diamond drills are
favored because the cores they yield provide knowledge of the geologic
structure. The core is normally split along its axis; one half is analyzed, and the
other half is retained intact for further geologic study.
An evaluation of the samples enables the geologist or mining engineer to
calculate the tonnage and grade, or richness, of the mineral deposit. He or she
estimates the mining costs, evaluates the recovery of the valuable minerals,
determines the environmental costs, and assesses other foreseeable factors in an
effort to reach a conclusion about the profitability of the mineral deposit. The crux
of the analysis is the question of whether the property is just another mineral
deposit or an ore body. For an ore deposit, the overall process is called reserve
estimation, that is, the examination and valuation of the ore body. At the conclusion
of this stage, the project is developed, traded to another party, or abandoned.

1.4.3 Development
In the third stage, development, the work of opening a mineral deposit for
exploitation is performed. With it begins the actual mining of the deposit, now
called the ore. Access to the deposit must be gained either (1) by stripping the
overburden, which is the soil and/or rock covering the deposit, to expose the
near-surface ore for mining or (2) by 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. 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 the surface. Economic considerations
 STAGES IN THE LIFE OF A MINE 11

determine the stripping ratio, the ratio of waste removed to ore recovered; it
may range from as high as 45 yd/ton (38 m/tonne) for coal mines to as low
as 1.0 yd/ton (0.8 m/tonne) in metal mines. Some nonmetallic mines have no
overburden to remove; the mineral is simply excavated at the surface.
Development for underground mining is generally more complex and
expensive. It requires careful planning and layout of access openings for
efficient mining, safety, and permanence. The principal openings may be shafts,
slopes, or adits; each must be planned to allow passage of workers, machines,
ore, waste, air, water, and utilities. 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. These differences
are outlined in Chapters 4, 7, 8, and 10 to 14.

1.4.4 Exploitation
Exploitation, the fourth stage of mining, is associated with the actual recovery
of minerals from the earth 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 uninterrupted throughout the life of the mine.
The mining method selected for exploitation is determined mainly by the
characteristics of the mineral deposit and the limits imposed by safety,
technology, environmental concerns, and economics. Geologic conditions, such
as the dip, shape, and strength of the ore and the surrounding rock, play a key
role in selecting the method. Traditional exploitation methods fall into two
broad categories based on locale: surface or underground. Surface mining
includes mechanical excavation methods such as open pit and open cast (strip
mining), and aqueous methods such as placer and solution mining. Under-
ground mining is usually classified in three categories of methods: unsupported,
supported, and caving.

1.4.4.1 Surface Mining. Surface mining is the predominant exploitation

procedure worldwide, producing in the United States about 85% of all
minerals, excluding petroleum and natural gas. Almost all metallic ores (98%),
about 97% of the nonmetallic ores, and 61% of the coal in the United States
are mined using surface methods (U.S. Geological Survey, 1995; Energy
Information Administration, 2000), and most of these are mined by open pit
or open cast methods. In open pit mining, a mechanical extraction method, a
thick deposit is generally mined in benches or steps, although thin deposits
may require only a single bench or face. Open pit or open cast mining is usually
employed to exploit a near-surface deposit or one that has a low stripping
ratio. It often necessitates a large capital investment but generally results in
high productivity, low operating cost, and good safety conditions.
12 INTRODUCTION TO MINING

The aqueous extraction methods depend on water or another liquid (e.g.,

dilute sulfuric acid, weak cyanide solution, or ammonium carbonate) to extract
the mineral. Placer mining is used to exploit loosely consolidated deposits like
common sand and gravel or gravels containing gold, tin, diamonds, platinum,
titanium, or coal. Hydraulicking utilizes a high-pressure stream of water that is
directed against the mineral deposit (normally but not always a placer),
undercutting it, and causing its removal by the erosive actions of the water.
Dredging performed from floating vessels, accomplishes the extraction of the
minerals mechanically or hydraulically. Solution mining includes both borehole
mining, such as the methods used to extract sodium chloride or sulfur, and
leaching, either through drillholes or in dumps or heaps on the surface. Placer
and solution mining are among the most economical of all mining methods but
can only be applied to limited categories of mineral deposits.

1.4.4.2 Underground Mining. Underground methods — unsupported, sup-

ported, and caving — are differentiated by the type of wall and roof supports
used, the configuration and size of production openings, and the direction in
which mining operations progress. The unsupported methods of mining are used
to extract mineral deposits that are roughly tabular (plus flat or steeply
dipping) and are generally associated with strong ore and surrounding rock.
These methods are termed unsupported because they do not use any artificial
pillars to assist in the support of the openings. However, generous amounts of
roof bolting and localized support measures are often used. Room-and-pillar
mining is the most common unsupported method, used primarily for flat-lying
seams or bedded deposits like coal, trona, limestone, and salt. Support of the
roof is provided by natural pillars of the mineral that are left standing in a
systematic pattern. Stope-and-pillar mining (a stope is a production opening in
a metal mine) is a similar method used in noncoal mines where thicker, more
irregular ore bodies occur; the pillars are spaced randomly and located in
low-grade ore so that the high-grade ore can be extracted. These two methods
account for almost all of the underground mining in horizontal deposits in the
United States and a very high proportion of the underground tonnage as well.
Two other methods applied to steeply dipping deposits are also included in the
unsupported category. In shrinkage stoping, mining progresses upward, with
horizontal slices of ore being blasted along the length of the stope. A portion
of the broken ore is allowed to accumulate in the stope to provide a working
platform for the miners and is thereafter withdrawn from the stope through
chutes. Sublevel stoping differs from shrinkage stoping by providing sublevels
from which vertical slices are blasted. In this manner, the stope is mined
horizontally from one end to the other. Shrinkage stoping is more suitable than
sublevel stoping for stronger ore and weaker wall rock.
Supported mining methods are often used in mines with weak rock structure.
Cut-and-fill stoping is the most common of these methods and is used primarily
in steeply dipping metal deposits. The cut-and-fill method is practiced both in
the overhand (upward) and in the underhand (downward) directions. As each
 STAGES IN THE LIFE OF A MINE 13

horizontal slice is taken, the voids are filled with a variety of fill types to
support the walls. The fill can be rock waste, tailings, cemented tailings, or
other suitable materials. Cut-and-fill mining is one of the more popular
methods used for vein deposits and has recently grown in use. Square-set
stoping also involves backfilling mine voids; however, it relies mainly on timber
sets to support the walls during mining. This mining method is rapidly
disappearing in North America because of the high cost of labor. However, it
still finds occasional use in mining high-grade ores or in countries where labor
costs are low. Stull stoping is a supported mining method using timber or rock
bolts in tabular, pitching ore bodies. It is one of the methods that can be
applied to ore bodies that have dips between 10° and 45°. It often utilizes
artificial pillars of waste to support the roof.
Caving methods are varied and versatile and involve caving the ore and/or
the overlying rock. Subsidence of the surface normally occurs afterward.
L ongwall mining is a caving method particularly well adapted to horizontal
seams, usually coal, at some depth. In this method, a face of considerable length
(a long face or wall) is maintained, and as the mining progresses, the overlying
strata are caved, thus promoting the breakage of the coal itself. A different
method, sublevel caving, is employed for a dipping tabular or massive deposit.
As mining progresses downward, each new level is caved into the mine
openings, with the ore materials being recovered while the rock remains
behind. Block caving is a large-scale or bulk mining method that is highly
productive, low in cost, and used primarily on massive deposits that must be
mined underground. It is most applicable to weak or moderately strong ore
bodies that readily break up when caved. Both block caving and longwall
mining are widely used because of their high productivity.
In addition to these conventional methods, innovative methods of mining are
also evolving. These are applicable to unusual deposits or may employ unusual
techniques or equipment. Examples include automation, rapid excavation,
underground gasification or liquifaction, and deep-sea mining.

1.4.5 Reclamation
The final stage in the operation of most mines is reclamation, the process of
closing a mine and recontouring, revegetating, and restoring the water and
land values. The best time to begin the reclamation process of a mine is before
the first excavations are initiated. In other words, mine planning engineers
should plan the mine so that the reclamation process is considered and the
overall cost of mining plus reclamation is minimized, not just the cost of
mining itself. The new philosophy in the mining industry is sustainability, that
is, the meeting of economic and environmental needs of the present while
enhancing the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (National
Mining Association, 1998).
In planning for the reclamation of any given mine, there are many concerns
that must be addressed. The first of these is the safety of the mine site,
14 INTRODUCTION TO MINING

particularly if the area is open to the general public. The removal of office
buildings, processing facilities, transportation equipment, utilities, and other
surface structures must generally be accomplished. The mining company is
then required to seal all mine shafts, adits, and other openings that may present
physical hazards. Any existing highwalls or other geologic structures may
require mitigation to prevent injuries or death due to geologic failures.
The second major issue to be addressed during reclamation of a mine site
is restoration of the land surface, the water quality, and the waste disposal
areas so that long-term water pollution, soil erosion, dust generation, or
vegetation problems do not occur. The restoration of native plants is often a
very important part of this process, as the plants help build a stable soil
structure and naturalize the area. It may be necessary to carefully place any
rock or tailings with acid-producing properties in locations where rainfall has
little effect on the material and acid production is minimized. The same may
be true of certain of the heavy metals that pollute streams. Planning of the
waste dumps, tailings ponds, and other disturbed areas will help prevent
pollution problems, but remediation work may also be necessary to complete
the reclamation stage of mining and satisfy the regulatory agencies.
The final concern of the mine planning engineer may be the subsequent use
of the land after mining is completed. Old mine sites have been converted to
wildlife refuges, shopping malls, golf courses, airports, lakes, underground
storage facilities, real estate developments, solid waste disposal areas, and other
uses that can benefit society. By planning the mine for a subsequent develop-
ment, mine planners can enhance the value of the mined land and help convert
it to a use that the public will consider favorable. The successful completion of
the reclamation of a mine will enhance public opinion of the mining industry
and keep the mining company in the good graces of the regulatory agencies.
The fifth stage of the mine is thus of paramount importance and should be
planned at the earliest possible time in the life of the mine.

1.5 UNIT OPERATIONS OF MINING

During the development and exploitation stages of mining when natural

materials are extracted from the earth, remarkably similar unit operations are
normally employed. The unit operations of mining are the basic steps used to
produce mineral from the deposit, and the auxiliary operations that are used
to support them. The steps contributing directly to mineral extraction are
production operations, which constitute the production cycle of operations. The
ancillary steps that support the production cycle are termed auxiliary oper-
ations.
The production cycle employs unit operations that are normally grouped
into rock breakage and materials handling. Breakage generally consists of
drilling and blasting, and materials handling encompasses loading or excava-
tion and haulage (horizontal transport) and sometimes hoisting (vertical or
 ECONOMICS OF THE MINERAL INDUSTRIES 15

inclined transport). Thus, the basic production cycle consists of these unit
operations:

Production cycle : drill ; blast ; load ; haul

Although production operations tend to be separate and cyclic in nature,

the trend in modern mining and tunneling is to eliminate or combine functions
and to increase continuity of extraction. For example, in coal and other soft
rock mines, continuous miners break and load the mineral to eliminate drilling
and blasting; boring machines perform the same tasks in medium-hard rock.
The cycle of operations in surface and underground mining differs primarily by
the scale of the equipment. Specialized machines have evolved to meet the
unique needs of the two regimes.
In modern surface mining, blastholes of 3 to 15 in. (75 to 380 mm) in
diameter are produced by rotary or percussion drills for the placement of
explosives when consolidated rock must be removed. The explosive charge is
then inserted and detonated to reduce the overburden or ore to a size range
suitable for excavation. The broken material is loaded by shovel, dragline, or
wheel loader into haulage units — generally trucks — for transport. Railroad
cars are also used for haulage, and belt conveyors are often used after the
material is crushed. Soil and coal are often moved in the same manner, though
blasting is sometimes unnecessary. In the quarrying of dimension stone, the
blocks are often freed without blasting, using wire saws or other mechanical
devices.
In underground mining, the production cycle is similar, although the
equipment used may be scaled down in size. Smaller drillholes are used, trucks
are sometimes replaced by shuttle cars, and belt conveyors are more prevalent.
Coal, salt, potash, and trona are often mined without the use of explosives or
mined after undercutting the face to reduce the consumption of explosives.
In addition to the operations of the production cycle, certain auxiliary
operations must be performed in many cases. Underground, these usually
include roof support, ventilation and air-conditioning, power supply, pumping,
maintenance, lighting, communications, and delivery of compressed air, water,
and supplies to the working sections. In surface mining, the primary auxiliary
operations include those providing slope stability, pumping, power supply,
maintenance, waste disposal, and supply of material to the production centers.

1.6 ECONOMICS OF THE MINERAL INDUSTRIES

1.6.1 Mineral Production

It has been estimated that only a fraction of 1% of the earth’s surface is
underlain with mineral deposits of commercial value. From this resource, the
United States extracted nearly 60 billion in mineral values in 1997: $27 billion
16 INTRODUCTION TO MINING

FIGURE 1.1. The role of nonfuel minerals in the U.S. economy (estimated values in 1998).
Source: U.S. Geological Survey (1999).

worth of industrial minerals, $20 billion worth of coal, and $12 billion worth
of metals (National Mining Association, 1998). Additional information on the
value of minerals production in the United States can be found in Figure 1.1
(U.S. Geological Survey, 1999). This figure shows that the net value of exports
of nonfuel mineral raw materials and materials processed from minerals has a
value of about $35 billion per annum. In addition, about 355,000 people are
employed by the mining industry in the United States, and every man, woman,
and child in this country requires 23 tons (21 tonnes) of minerals, including
nearly 4 tons (3.6 tonnes) of coal, each year to maintain his or her modern
lifestyle (National Mining Association, 1998).
World consumption of minerals has increased to such an extent in modern
times that more minerals were used in the twentieth century than were used
 ECONOMICS OF THE MINERAL INDUSTRIES 17

since the beginning of history. This has occurred because we are now a society
that depends on automobiles, trains, and airplanes for transportation; tele-
phones, television, and computers for communications; fertilizers and heavy
machinery for our agricultural output; industrial minerals for home building
products; and coal-fired and nuclear plants for our electrical power. These
human and industrial services in turn depend on the production of minerals
and mineral products in great amounts.
The United States produces a very large tonnage of mineral products, but
it has nevertheless become a major and growing importer of minerals, as shown
in Figure 1.2. This country now imports more than 70% of its potash,
chromium, tungsten, tin, and cobalt, plus almost all (better than 90%) of its
fluorspar, manganese, and aluminum ore. Although it has increased imports of

FIGURE 1.2. U.S. net import reliance for selected nonfuel mineral materials in 1998. Source:
U.S. Geological Survey (1999).
18 INTRODUCTION TO MINING

many minerals, the United States is also producing more of the platinum group
metals, gold, and diamonds.
Conservation of mineral resources is currently an important issue to the
general public. Society is becoming much more cognizant of the need to
conserve energy, minerals, and the environment. Accordingly, the mining
industry has endorsed a policy that favors extraction of minerals in a more
sustainable manner (National Mining Association, 1998). This policy favors
mining as long as the effects on the environment or the economic welfare are
not a burden on future generations. Extreme conservationist groups often
attempt to push for punitive regulatory controls of mining activities and even
a ban on mining. However, societal needs dictate that a compromise between
the most strident conservationist viewpoint and the most open mineral
development concept be adopted for the present and the future. This text
attempts to present a balanced approach to mining in the environmental world
in which we live.

1.6.2 Mineral Economics

The uniqueness of minerals as economic products accounts for the complexity
of mineral economics and the business of mining (Vogely, 1985; Strauss, 1986).
Minerals are unevenly distributed and, unlike agricultural or forest products,
cannot reproduce or be replaced. A mineral deposit may therefore be consider-
ed a depleting asset whose production is restricted to the area in which it
occurs. These factors impose limitations on a mining company in the areas of
business practices, financing, and production practices. Because its mineral
assets are constantly being depleted, a mining company must discover addi-
tional reserves or acquire them by purchase to stay in the mining business.
Other peculiar features of the mineral industries are associated with oper-
ations. Production costs tend to increase with depth and declining grade. Thus,
low-cost operations are mined first, followed by the harder-to-mine deposits.
In addition, commodity prices are subject to market price swings in response
to supply and demand, which can make the financial risk of a long-term
minerals project quite risky. A change in mining or processing technology can
also drastically alter the economic landscape. The pattern of usage, in terms of
intensity of use (lb/capita or kg/capita) and total consumption of metals on the
world market for the nonferrous metals, shows that the intensity of usage of
many of these metals continues to go down while overall consumption goes up
(Crowson, 1998). Any swing in intensity of use due to substitution or recycling
can greatly affect the market price of a metal. Mining companies must therefore
keep their prices low by further improvements in productivity, or market price
drops can easily create great economic hardships.
Some minerals, such as precious metals, iron, and most of the base metals,
can be recycled economically, thereby affecting the markets for freshly mined
metal. This is good practice and favorable for the future of humankind, but it
can create economic problems if the market price is adversely affected.
 ECONOMICS OF THE MINERAL INDUSTRIES 19

FIGURE 1.3. Periods in the growth of a country’s mineral industries. (After Hewett, 1929;
Lovering, 1943. By permission from the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc.,
Littleton, CO.)

Substitutes for a particular mineral may be developed, particularly if the price

of the mineral remains high. For example, aluminum and plastics have often
been substituted for copper, and plastics have been substituted for a variety of
other metals as well as for glass.
At times in recent history certain minerals have been exceptions to economic
laws because their prices have been fixed by government decree or cartels.
Official prices of gold, silver, and uranium have been regulated by government
action, although they now fluctuate in free world markets. Cartels controlling
industrial diamonds, oil, mercury, and tin have strongly influenced their
market prices during certain time periods. However, many of these cartels have
weakened or collapsed because of competition from new suppliers.
It has long been recognized that a given mineral-rich country can follow a
fairly predictable pattern in its economic development, based on the state of its
minerals industry (Hewett, 1929; Lovering, 1943). Five periods have been
identified that reflect the periods of discovery, exploitation, and exhaustion of
its mineral industry. The characteristic periods of mineral industry develop-
ment are shown in Figure 1.3; each is described in the following list.

1. Period of mine development: Exploration, discovery of new districts, many

small mines working; first recognition of large deposits and development
of larger mines; rapidly increasing production of metals.
2. Period of smelter development: Fewer new discoveries; small mines becom-
ing exhausted, but increasing output from large mines; many smelters
competing for ore.
3. Period of industrial development: Decreasing costs, increasing standard of
living; rapid accumulation of wealth; expanding internal and external
markets; approaching the zenith of commercial power.
20 INTRODUCTION TO MINING

4. Period of rapid depletion of inexpensive raw materials at home: Ever-

increasing costs of mining and materials produced; more and more energy
is required to get the same amount of raw material. Mines and smelters
continue to decline. Some foreign markets are lost; foreign imports, both
raw materials and manufactured products, invade the home market.
5. Period of decreasing internal and external markets: Increasing dependence
on foreign sources of raw materials brings increasing costs to manufac-
turers. This period can be characterized by a decreasing standard of
living with its accompanying social and political problems; quotas, tariffs,
subsidies, cartels, and other artificial expedients are used in the effort to
maintain a competitive price in the domestic and world markets. This is
a period of decreasing commercial power.

As current-day examples of the cycle in Figure 1.3, many less-developed

countries fall into period 1, Australia into period 2, Russia in period 3, the
United States in period 4, and the United Kingdom and Japan in period 5.
Some economists maintain that this cycle is oversimplified and that it can be
modified by technology or dedication to efficient production. For example,
Japan after World War II arose from the ashes to become a world power
without the benefit of extensive mineral resources. The Japanese had previously
extracted nearly all of their inexpensive minerals. However, they purchased raw
materials on the open market, created efficient automobile and electronics
industries, and prospered by means of the ‘‘value added’’ to the mineral
products.
At times during its history, the U.S. government has maintained a stockpile
of strategic minerals to guard against shortages in case of war or economic
blackmail. The practice became common after 1939 and sharply increased after
1946 because of Cold War tensions. More recently, the government has been
reducing its stockpiles. This shift is the result of better access to minerals
around the world and a less threatening world political scene since the breakup
of the Soviet Union. Mineral companies have often been critical of the
stockpiling policy, inasmuch as sudden large purchases from the stockpile can
have drastic effects on the price of a given commodity. An informative history
of the U.S. strategic minerals stockpile is given by Perkins (1997).
A further aspect of mineral economics concerns the financing and marketing
of mines and mineral properties. Mining enterprises are financed in much the
same manner as other businesses (Wanless, 1984; Tinsley et al., 1985). Because
of greater financial risks, however, the expected return on investment is higher
and the payback period shortened in a mining enterprise. Mineral properties
as well as mines are marketable. The selling price is determined generally by a
valuation based on the report of an engineer or geologist; the value of future
earnings is usually discounted to the date of purchase in computing the present
value of the property. Mineral properties may be determined to have worth
because they are very rich, very large, easily accessible, in great demand,
favorably located, cheaply mineable, or militarily strategic.
 SPECIAL TOPIC: ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF A MINERAL COMMODITY 21

1.7 COMPUTER APPLICATIONS AND USAGE

In today’s world, computers are becoming more useful and finding more
application to composition, engineering calculations, library research, and
general communications than ever before. It is perhaps worthwhile to compare
the progress in the area of computations over the last few decades. Both
authors of this text were trained as engineers to perform their computations on
a slide rule in their respective university educations. You, the student, were
probably introduced to computers in elementary school and most likely
became quite proficient in their use before entering your first college course. It
is important, therefore, that you continue to develop your skills on computers
for every aspect of your future as professionals.
The first aspect of computers considered here is their use in retrieval of
information of value in your studies. To provide useful information, the
following World Wide Web (WWW) sites are provided as an introduction to
useful sources of minerals data and other information of interest to mineral
engineers. The web addresses are current at the time of publication; however,
web sites are constantly changing. Your web browser may be necessary to
provide access to the sites listed here at some future time. It should be noted
that the prefix ‘‘http://’’ is omitted from all the WWW sites listed in this book.
You must prefix that to each address.

U.S. Geological Survey www.usgs.gov

Energy Information Administration, U.S. Department of Energy
www.eia.doe.gov
National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health
www.cdc.gov/niosh/homepage.html
Mine Safety and Health Administration www.msha.gov
Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc. www.smenet.org
Office of Surface Mining, Department of the Interior www.osmre.gov

These sites will be of use to you in your upcoming assignments and in your
professional life as well.

1.8 SPECIAL TOPIC: ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF A MINERAL

COMMODITY

Prepare a summary analysis of pertinent production and economic data for

several important mineral commodities, using Table 1.4 as a format. Obtain
statistics for mine production (world and domestic) and domestic imports,
exports, scrap, stockpile changes (private and government), and net consump-
tion (total and by use). Determine data for the most recent year available. State
the commodity price, preferably on an as-mined basis ($/ton, or $/tonne, of
mineral, F.O.B., mine).
22 INTRODUCTION TO MINING

TABLE 1.4 Economic Analysis of Mineral Commodity

Mineral —————— Year —— Average price ————

Mine Production
World Country Tonnage Percentage Value
————— ————— ————— —————
————— ————— ————— —————
————— ————— ————— —————
————— ————— ————— —————
—————
————— —————
————— —————
————— —————
—————
Total ————— ————— —————
Domestic (P) State
————— ————— ————— —————
————— ————— ————— —————
————— ————— ————— —————
————— ————— ————— —————
—————
————— —————
————— —————
————— —————
—————
Total ————— ————— —————
District
————— ————— ————— —————
————— ————— ————— —————
————— ————— ————— —————
————— ————— ————— —————
—————
————— —————
————— —————
————— —————
—————
Total ————— ————— —————
Company Mine
————— ————— ————— —————
————— ————— ————— —————
————— ————— ————— —————
————— ————— ————— —————
—————
————— —————
————— —————
————— —————
—————
Total ————— ————— —————
Domestic Use
Imports (I) Exports (E) Scrap (S)
Country Tonnage Country Tonnage Tonnage —————
————— ————— ————— —————
————— ————— ————— ————— Stockpile (SP)
————— ————— ————— ————— Private
————— ————— ————— ————— Tonnage —————
Total Total Government
————— ————— tonnage —————
Net Consumption (C) Consumers
Actual Industry or Use Tonnage or Percentage
tonnage ————— ————————— —————————
Apparent ————————— —————————
tonnage ————— ————————— —————————
—————————
C : P ; S ; I 9 E < SP ————————— —————————
: ———————————————————————————————————
Sources: —————————————————————————————————
—————————————————————————————————
 PROBLEMS 23

Select the metallic and nonmetallic commodities you wish to study by

referring to and utilizing the following references:

1. U.S. Geological Survey web page (www.usgs.gov). This reference pro-

vides a two-page summary of more than 30 of the primary metallic and
nonmetallic minerals produced in the United States. It may not supply
you, however, with all the information you need to complete the
summary in Table 1.4.
2. U.S. Geological Survey, Mineral Commodities Survey (1999 or latest
edition). This volume is produced annually. It covers more than 80
metallic and nonmetallic mineral products. Each product is summarized
in approximately two pages using statistics that are about a year or two
old.
3. U.S. Geological Survey, Minerals Yearbook (1995 or latest edition). The
most complete mineral production analysis is provided in this yearbook,
which is printed every several years. It is produced in three volumes, with
the largest (Vol. 3) covering the U.S. production statistics for all the
nonfuel minerals. More information is available here than in any other
reference, though the data may be two to five years old.
4. Engineering and Mining Journal (monthly), ‘‘Prices, American Metal
Market.’’ This monthly journal provides the prices being paid for metals
on a specific date each month; it is useful for more current price
information.

Similar information on coal production can be found in the following refer-

ences. The statistics contained therein are generally a year or two old.

1. Energy Information Administration, Coal Industry Annual (2000 or most

recent edition). This resource provides several hundred pages each year
on the primary statistics of coal production in the United States,
including state-by-state information, production, employment, prices,
distribution, exports, and imports.
2. Energy Information Administration web page (www.eia.doe.gov). This
resource provides exactly the same information as the previously cited
publication, as well as many other sources of information available for
downloading.

PROBLEMS

1.1 Select one of the web sites listed in Section 1.7 (or use one selected for
you by your instructor) and write a one- or two-page summary of the
important elements of the web site. Evaluate the usefulness of the
information found therein. Your instructor may ask you to share these
with your classmates for future use.
24 INTRODUCTION TO MINING

1.2 Go to the web site of the U.S. Geological Survey (www.usgs.gov) and find
the list of the metallic and nonmetallic minerals produced in the United
States. Pick the one you know the least about and write a one-page
summary of the mineral and its production picture in the United States.