mining

(noun)

The activity of removing solid valuables from the earth.

Related Terms

Examples of mining in the following topics:

  • Occurrence of Metals

    • Metals are often extracted from the Earth by means of mining, resulting in ores that are relatively rich sources of the requisite elements.
    • Mineral sources are generally divided into surface mines, which are mined by excavation using heavy equipment, and subsurface mines.
    • After the ore is mined, the metals must be extracted, usually by chemical or electrolytic reduction.
    • Chuquicamata, Chile, is the site of the largest circumference and second deepest open pit copper mine in the world.

  • Extractive Metallurgy

    • Extractive metallurgy refers to the different processes used to extract valuable metals from mined ores.
    • Ores are extracted through mining; they are then refined to extract the valuable element(s).
    • The grade or concentration of an ore mineral, or metal, as well as its form of occurrence, will directly affect the costs associated with mining it.
    • The cost of extraction must be weighed against the metal value contained in the rock to determine which ores should be processed and which ores are of too low a grade to be worth mining.
    • After mining, large pieces of the ore feed are broken through crushing and/or grinding.

  • Elemental Boron

    • These are mined industrially as evaporites, such as borax and kernite.

  • The Alkaline Earth Metals

    • Deposits of each of these minerals are mined to extract the elements for further use.

  • Properties of Phosphorus

    • Calcium phosphate (phosphate rock), mostly mined in Florida and North Africa, can be heated to 1,200-1,500 °C with sand, which is mostly SiO2, and coke (impure carbon) to produce vaporized P4.

  • Metallurgy

    • High temperatures are often required to melt the ores and metals that come out of mining operations.

  • Polysaccharides

    • Recently, guar gum has becomes an essential ingredient for mining oil and natural gas in a process called hydraulic fracturing.

  • Ionic Crystals

    • This picture was taken in Wieliczka, Poland, one of the world's oldest salt mines.