The process of mining from discovery of an ore body through extraction of minerals and finally to returning the land to its natural state consists of several distinct steps. The act of mining requires different methods of extraction depending on the mineralogy, geology, and location of the resources. Characteristics such as mineral hardness, the mineral stratification, and access to that mineral will determine the method of extraction.

Generally, mining is either done from the surface or underground. Mining can also occur with both surface and underground operations taking place on the same reserve. Mining activity varies as to what method is employed to remove the mineral.

This section provides documents, E-Books and videos of general nature, which could not be fit in other sections.

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           Surface Mining comprises 90% of the world’s mineral tonnage output. Also called open pit mining, surface mining is removing minerals in formations that are at or near the surface. Ore retrieval is done by material removal from the land in its natural state. Surface mining often alters the land characteristics, shape, topography, and geological make-up. Surface mining is used when deposits of commercially useful minerals or rock are found near the surface; that is, where the overburden is relatively thin or the material of interest is structurally unsuitable for tunneling (as would usually be the case for sand, cinder, and gravel).

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           Where minerals occur deep below the surface where the overburden is thick or the mineral occurs as veins in hard rock underground mining methods are used to extract the valued material. In Under Ground Mining the overlying rock is left in place, and the mineral is removed through shafts or tunnels.

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           Mining is an industry in transition. In this period of transition, innovation and development will be more important than ever. In recent decades another driver has been a growing awareness of the adverse environmental and ecological impacts of mining.

Although industry currently supports the development of most new geochemical and geophysical technologies, basic research, such as determining the chemistry, biology, and spectral character of soils, would significantly benefit the minerals industry. For example, uncertainty about rock stability and gas and water conditions that will be encountered during underground mining impedes rapid advances and creates health and safety hazards. As mining progresses to greater depths, increases in rock stress require innovative designs to ensure the short-term and long-term stability of the mine structure. Truly continuous mining will require an accelerated search for innovative fragmentation and material handling systems. Sensing, analyzing, and communicating data and information will become increasingly important. Mining environments present unique challenges to the design and operation of equipment, which must be extremely reliable. Increasing the productive operating time of equipment and mining systems will require innovative maintenance strategies, supported by modern monitoring technologies.

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           Rock mechanics is the theoretical and applied science of the mechanical behaviour of rock and rock masses; it is that branch of mechanics concerned with the response of rock and rock masses to the force fields of their physical environment. Rock mechanics itself forms part of the broader subject of geomechanics which is concerned with the mechanical responses of all geological materials, including soils. Rock mechanics, as applied in mining, is concerned with the application of the principles of engineering mechanics to the design of the rock structures generated by mining activity, e.g. tunnels, mining shafts, underground excavations, open pit mines, waste dump yards, and other structures built in or of rock. It also includes the design of reinforcement systems such as rock bolting patterns.

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           The process of mining from discovery of an ore body through extraction of minerals and finally to returning the land to its natural state consists of several distinct steps. Once the analysis determines a given ore body is worth recovering, development begins to create access to the ore body. Sub-surface mining consists of digging tunnels or shafts into the earth to reach buried ore deposits. Ore, for processing, and waste rock, for disposal, are brought to the surface through the tunnels and shafts.

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           Half of all fatal accidents in mines are caused by rock bursts, many of which are due to inadequate mine-support strategies. To provide mining engineers, mine personnel and miners with information on mine-support systems in general and anchor-support systems in particular, this section has been prepared.

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           Shaft Sinking is an important operation in mining for reaching and working mineral deposits situated at a depth below the surface, whenever the topography does not admit of driving adits or tunnels. If in solid rock, carrying but little water, shaft-sinking is a comparatively simple operation. But when much water is encountered or the formation penetrated comprises unstable, watery strata, special forms of lining become necessary and the work is slow and expensive. Mine shafts are often very deep. The primary purpose of mine shafts is to act as hoisting and travelling-ways; incidentally they serve for ventilation, for pumping and for transmitting power underground by steam, compressed air or other means.

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           Underground mine ventilation provides a flow of air to the underground workings of a mine of sufficient volume to dilute and remove noxious gases (typically NOx, SO₂, methane, CO₂ and CO). The sources of these gases are equipment that runs on diesel engines, blasting with explosives, and the ore-body itself. The largest component of the operating cost for mine ventilation is electricity to power the ventilation fans, which may account for one third of a typical underground mine’s entire electrical power cost.

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           The basic purpose of mine planning is to evaluate the economically recoverable portion of the deposit, the metallurgy and ore recoverability, marketability and payability of the ore concentrates, engineering concerns, milling and infrastructure costs, finance and equity requirements and an analysis of the proposed mine from the initial excavation all the way through to reclamation.

Effective mine planning is essential not only to maximize the profitability and value of mining operations, but also to instill confidence internally and externally, that the mine can plan and deliver according to the plan. This means that the mine planner must be able to interpret the planning requirements and objectives of the business, in order to produce plans which will support the business itself.

Economic and business circumstances have changed over the years, with the result that the focus of mine planning has shifted from volume to value and from manual, once-off planning events to continuous, dynamic planning in an electronic environment.

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           The nature of mining processes creates a potential negative impact on the environment both during the mining operations and for years after the mine is closed. This impact has led to most of the world’s nations adopting regulations to moderate the negative effects of mining operations. Environmental issues can include erosion, formation of sinkholes, loss of biodiversity, and contamination of soil, groundwater and surface water by chemicals from mining processes. In some cases, additional forest logging is done in the vicinity of mines to increase the available room for the storage of the created debris and soil. Besides creating environmental damage, the contamination resulting from leakage of chemicals also affects the health of the local population.

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           The planning of a mine is basically an exercise in economics, constrained by certain geologic and mining engineering aspects. There are several items which dictate the economics of a planned mining operation and determine its viability. Metals and mineral resources exploration and excavation are environmentally delicate and complicated businesses. The costs and risks associated with mining are exorbitant. Land acquisition, labor, equipment, safety, and reclamation are the chief concerns of the mine owner.

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           Underground coal gasification (UCG) is an industrial process, which enables coal to be converted into product gas. UCG is an in-situ gasification process carried out in non-mined coal seams using injection of oxidants, and bringing the product gas to surface through production wells drilled from the surface. The product gas could to be used as a chemical feedstock or as fuel for power generation. The technique can be applied to resources that are otherwise not economical to extract and also offers an alternative to conventional coal mining methods for some resources. Compared to the traditional coal mining and gasification, the UCG has less environmental and social impact.

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           Rock excavation in the great majority of non-coal, underground mining operations is carried out using drill-and-blast techniques. About 85% of the holes drilled in underground mines are produced using conventional percussive drills. A small fraction of the holes are drilled with down-hole drills. The remaining, roughly 15%, of these holes are drilled with small diameter, rotary drills. Most of these small-diameter holes are drilled in coal mines for the emplacement of roof bolts. In surface mines, the vast majority of the rock is excavated by drill-and blast methods. The machines used most commonly for excavating the blast holes in these mines are large-diameter rotary drills.

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           The technical expertise needed to accomplish task of mine Surveying varies with the complexity of the mining operation (whether underground or surface, the size of the mining method, etc.) and the desires of mine management to comply with regulations and good mining practice. Mine surveying practices at underground and surface mines are based on plane surveying methods dating back to the time of the ancient Egyptians. These practices were refined and improved as new equipment was developed and the demand for accuracy increased.

Of major importance in the field of mine surveying is the introduction and use of computer and laser technology for common surveying practices. Theodolites and electric distance measuring (EDM) instruments are rapidly replacing the transit and tape measures. Computers with plotters and CAD (computer-aided design) capabilities are replacing the old manual methods of planimetering and contouring. These advancements have not fully displaced all older methods, but their use is becoming more commonplace as the technology becomes more cost competitive, better accuracy is demanded, and more personnel are trained to use such technology.

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           Land rehabilitation is the process of returning the land in a given area to some degree of its former state, after Mining. Modern mine rehabilitation aims to minimize and mitigate the environmental effects of modern mining, which may in the case of open pit mining involve movement of significant volumes of rock. Rehabilitation management is an ongoing process, often resulting in open pit mines being backfilled.

Mine reclamation is the process of creating useful landscapes that meet a variety of goals, typically creating productive ecosystems (or sometimes industrial or municipal land) from mined land. It includes all aspects of this work, including material placement, stabilizing, capping, regrading, placing cover soils, revegetation, and maintenance.

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           Geology is a broad scientific discipline that studies Earth through the history and processes of rocks and minerals. Although studying rocks for a living may sound unbearable to some, this fascinating science branches into many areas of the physical planet, including the formation and life of volcanoes, rivers, mountain ranges, and canyons.

Geophysics is an interdisciplinary physical science concerned with the nature of the earth and its environment and as such seeks to apply the knowledge and techniques of physics, mathematics and chemistry to understand the structure and dynamic behaviour of the earth and its environment.

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           Mineralogy is the study of chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical) properties of minerals. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their utilization.

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           Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable (naturally replenished).Renewable energy is derived from natural processes that are replenished constantly. In its various forms, it derives directly from the sun, or from heat generated deep within the earth. Included in the definition is electricity and heat generated from solar, wind, ocean, hydropower, biomass, geothermal resources, and bio-fuels and hydrogen derived from renewable resources. Each of these sources has unique characteristics which influence how and where they are used.

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           Mines can be hazardous environments and the possibility of fire, flood, explosion and collapse has the potential to simultaneously affect a large number of people. Safety has long been a controversial issue in the mining business especially with sub-surface mining. While mining today is substantially safer than it was in the previous decades, mining accidents are often very high profile. Poor ventilation of the mines causes exposure to harmful gases, heat and dust inside sub-surface mines. These can cause harmful physiological effects, including death. The presence of heavy equipment in confined spaces also poses a risk to miners, and despite modern improvements to safety practices, mining remains dangerous throughout the world.

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