Drilling / Mining

Mining of an ore body can incorporate various techniques and equipment depending on the ore properties and surrounding waste rock. The two most common types of excavation are surface mining and sub-surface (underground mining). Both these excavation types are used to mine placer deposits (minerals contained within beach sands, river gravels, etc) and lode deposits (minerals contained in veins or layers throughout a mass of solid rock). Equipment used to remove overburden and ore include drills, explosives, shovels, bulldozers, continuous miners, etc.

Surface mining is done by removing surface overburden (vegetation, dirt, bedrock) to reach ore deposits. Types of surface mining include open pit mining, quarrying, strip mining and mountaintop removal. Equipment typically used are bulldozers and shovels to remove the overburden followed by drills and explosives to break the ore into manageable pieces for transportation.

Sub-surface mining consists of excavating tunnels or shafts into the earths surface to reach ore deposits. Types of sub-surface mining include drift mining, slope mining, shrinkage stope mining, long wall mining, room and pillar mining.  Other methods for for Hard rock mining include bore hole mining, drift and fill mining, long hole slope mining, sub level caving and block caving. Equipment typically involved include underground drills, ceiling bolters, continuous soft/hard rock miners, underground loaders, etc.

- Terex Corporation, Sandvik Mining and Construction images.