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Mineral Exploration and Mining PPT

mineral and mining

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retajjahmed234
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54 views14 pages

Mineral Exploration and Mining PPT

mineral and mining

Uploaded by

retajjahmed234
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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MINERAL

EXPLORAT
ION AND
MINING
MINERAL EXPLORATION
 The first step is to explore rock for mineralization.
 Rock samples are then taken from the area.
 Ore grade is then determined.
 If the ore grade is high enough, the company will drill test
holes.
 Lastly, if the deposits are extensive enough, opening a mine
may be warranted.

2
SUBSURFACE MINING
 This method is used if ore
deposit is found 50m or more
beneath Earth’s surface.
 Room-and-pillar mining is
commonly used for mining
coal.
 Rooms which are a network of
entries are cut into a seam.
 Pillars of coal between the
rooms are left standing to
support roof. 4
SUBSURFACE MINING
Longwall Mining Solution Mining
 More efficient  Used in mining potash, salt, and
sulfur.
A shearer moves back and  Very economic.
forth across the coal seam.
 Hot water is injected into the ore.
 Coal falls onto conveyor.
 Compressed air is pumped into
the dissolved ore and lifts it to
surface.

5
OPEN-PIT MINING
SURFACE MINING
 Used when ore deposits are located close to Earth’s surface.
 Open-pit mining is used to mine large quantities of coal and copper
located near-surface.
 Ore is mined downward, layer by layer.

 Explosives break up the ore.


 Ore is loaded into trucks.

9
SURFACE MINING
Surface Coal Mining Quarrying
 First, the soil is removed.  Used when mining granite and
 Next, overburden, rocks that marble.
cover near-surface coal seams,  Aggregates (sand, gravel, and
are removed. crushed rock) are the products of
 Once the coal is taken out, the pit quarrying.
is refilled with overburden and  Could also be called an open pit.
the soil is laid back on top of
overburden.

10
SOLAR EVAPORATION
 This involves placing sea water into enormous, shallow ponds.
 The sun evaporates the sea water.
 Salt crystals form.
 With more evaporation, more layers of crystals form.
 Salt is harvested at desired thickness.
 Used in areas that receive little rainfall but have high
evaporation rates (Mediterranean Sea, Australia, San
Francisco)
 About 30% of the world’s salt comes from solar evaporation.

11
PLACER MINING
Placer Mining
 Placer deposits are surface
deposits where minerals are
concentrated by wind and water. Dredge
 Most important are stream  Placer gold and diamonds are mined by
placers. dredging.
 Minerals fall to the streambed and  A dredge is a floating barge on which
become concentrated. buckets fixed on a conveyor are used to
separate the minerals from the
sediment.

12
SMELTING
 Crushed ore is melted at
high temperatures in a
furnace.
 Flux bonds with impurities
and separates them from the
molten metals.
 The molten metal falls to
bottom of furnace.
 Slag is a layer of impurities
that forms on top of molten
metal.
13
UNDERSEA MINING
 Several attempts have been
made to mine the ocean
since 1950s.
 It is more expensive than
land mining and deep ocean
depths are two reasons
undersea mining has not
been successful.

14

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