Miners typically drill a series of test holes to locate an underground ore body. From the extracted samples, they … See more

Open-pit mines are typically worked until either the mineral resource is exhausted, or an increasing ratio of overburden to ore makes further mining uneconomic. After open-pit mines are closed, they are sometimes … See more

Open-pit mines create a significant amount of waste. Almost one million tons of ore and waste rock can move from the largest mines per day, and a couple thousand tons moved from small mines per day. There are generally fo… See more

Open-pit mines operating in an area with heavy groundwater features may eventually face hydrology-related problems. This includes heaving and bursting of the mine floor due to excessive uplift pressure. A groundwat… See more

A form of open-cast quarrying may be carried out as 'untopping'. This is done where a previous underground mine is becoming uneconomic or worked-out, but still leaves valuable rock in place, often as a result of … See more