UNIVERSITY OF ZIMBABWE

Faculty of Engineering
Department of Mining Engineering

MIE203: Introduction to Mining and Metallurgy

SECTION A: MINING
MIE 203
Weighting: 10
TOTAL: 60 HOURS

Rationale

(1) Defining basic engineering principles in the Minerals Industry

(2) Develop concepts and skills that are relevant to the study and practice of mining
engineering

(3) Develop creativity, initiative and skills of enquiry

Objectives

(1) Knowledge and understanding of terms, symbols, phenomena, facts and laws,
definitions, concepts, theories and models;
(2) Handling information and solving problems; apply scientific principles, formulae and
methods to solve qualitative and quantitative problems;
(3) Practical application of principles learnt in real life situations

Disclaimer
These lecture notes are for Section A for course MIE203 Introduction to Mining and
Metallurgy for the first semester of 2013, the University of Zimbabwe. The notes are a
compilation of material that has been taught as foundational principles for Mining Engineering
in the University of Zimbabwe. The author wishes to acknowledge that these lecture notes are
collected from the references listed in Bibliography, and from many other sources the author has
forgotten. The author claims no originality, and hopes not to be sued for plagiarizing or for
violating the sacred copyright laws.

U.Z. 01 September 2013

M.M.

Course outline (Syllabus)

1. Minings contribution to civilization

2. Mining terminology

3. Advancements in Mining technology: A historical perspective of the minerals industry in

Zimbabwe and considering its current emergence.

4. Stages in the life of a mine

4.1 Prospecting
4.2 Exploration Geology and Ore Reserves
4.2.1 Feasibility Studies
4.2.2 Economics of the minerals industry
4.2.3 Hard rock mining
4.2.4 Soft rock mining

4.3 Development
4.3.1 Computer application and usage
4.3.2 Infrastructure and Transportation
4.3.3 Mining Methods
4.3.4 Mine Layout
4.3.5 Unit Operations of Mining
4.3.6 Environmental Engineering
4.3.7 Cost Estimating
4.3.8 Shaft /Pit Design
4.3.9 Shaft sinking/Pit opening
4.3.10 Lateral Development and Ramps
4.3.11 Collars and Portals

5.0 Exploitation/Production
5.4.1 Surface mining (explosives and drilling)
5.4.2 Underground mining (explosives and drilling)
5.4.3 Mine Maintenance
5.4.4 Mine Dewatering
5.4.5 Backfill

6.0 Reclamation

LITERATURE (e-books)
Subject
Introduction
Introduction
General
General
General
General
Ore Reserves
Ore Reserves
Environment
Cost Estimating
Cost Estimating

Author
Placer Dome Inc.
Hartman
Hoover
Peele
AIME
EM/J
Parks
Lane
Corbitt
RS Means
Dun & Bradstreet

Title
The Mine Development Process (booklet)
Introductory Mining Engineering
Principles of Mining
Mining Engineers' Handbook
SME Mining Engineering Handbook
Operating Handbook of U/G Mining
Valuation of Mineral Property
The Economic Definitions of Ore
Std Handbook of Environmental Engineering
Building Construction Cost Data (USA)
Cost Guide for Const Equip (Blue Book)

Presentation: Course consisting of two hour lectures in the morning, two hour tutorials in
the afternoon plus two field visits (60 hours)

1.0 MININGS CONTRIBUTION TO CIVILIZATION

Mining may well have been the second of humankinds earliest endeavoursgranted that
agriculture was the rst. The two industries ranked together as the primary or basic industries of
early civilization. Little has changed in the importance of these industries since the beginning of
civilization. If we consider shing and lumbering as part of agriculture and oil and gas
production as part of mining, then agriculture and mining continue to supply all the basic
resources used by modern civilization. From prehistoric times to the present, mining has played
an important part in human existence (Madigan, 1981). Here the term mining is used in its
broadest context as encompassing the extraction of any naturally occurring mineral substances
solid, liquid, and gasfrom the earth or other heavenly bodies for utilitarian purposes. The most
prominent of these uses for minerals are identied in Table 1.1.
The history of mining is fascinating. It parallels the history of civilization, with many important
cultural eras associated with and identied by various minerals or their derivatives: the Stone
Age (prior to 4000b.c.e.), the Bronze Age (4000 to 5000b.c.e.), the Iron Age (1500b.c.e. to
1780c.e.), the Steel Age (1780 to 1945), and the Nuclear Age (1945 to the present). Many
milestones in human historyMarco Polos journey to China, Vasco da Gamas voyages to
Africa and India, Columbuss discovery of the New World, and the modern gold rushes that led
to the settlement of California, Alaska, South Africa, Australia, and the Canadian Klondike
were achieved with minerals providing a major incentive(Rickard,1932). Other interesting
aspects of mining and metallurgical history can be found by referring to the historical record
provided by Gregory (1980), Raymond (1984), and Lacy and Lacy (1992).
Table 1.0 Humans Uses of Minerals

Need or Use
Tools and utensils

Purpose
Food, shelter

Weapons Hunting,

defense, warfare

Ornaments and decoration

Jewellery, cosmetics, dye

Currency

Monetary exchange

Structures and devices

Shelter, transport

Energy

Heat, power

Age
Prehistoric
Prehistoric
Ancient
Early
Early
Medieval

Need or Use

Purpose

Machinery
Electronics

Industry
Computers, communications

Nuclear ssion

Power, warfare

Age

Modern
Modern
Modern

The abundance of minerals also provides a method of creating wealth. Minerals can be marketed
on the open market, enabling the countries that possess them to obtain valuable currency
fro***m countries that do not. This generally results in the minerals-rich countries being the
great civilizations of the world while the have-not countries generally suffer from a lower
standard of living. For more on this topic, see Section 1.6. The ability to use mineral resources as
a means of creating wealth opens the possibility that a given country or countries will attempt to
control the entire market in a particular mineral, that is, to create an economic cartel in that
mineral. In 1973, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) attempted to
control oil prices in a bold manoeuvre to obtain windfall prots from the oil they produced.
Although successful in the short run, the cartel eventually lost effectiveness because of increased
oil production elsewhere and difculty in controlling their own member countries. For a few
years, OPEC was successful at regulating petroleum prices in an awesome display of the value of
possessing and producing some of the worlds most valuable minerals. Other cartels have
likewise been attempted. However, the greater freedom in international trade now makes such an
attempt less likely to succeed.

2.0 MINING TERMINOLOGY

There are many terms and expressions unique to mining that characterize the eld and identify
the user of such terms as a mining person. The student of mining is thus advised to become
familiar with all the terms used in mining, particularly those that are peculiar to either mines or
minerals. Most of the mining terminology is introduced in the sections of this book where they
are most applicable. Some general terms are best dened at the outset; these are outlined here.
For a complete list of mining terminology, see a standard reference (Gregory, 1980; American
Geological Institute, 1997). The following three terms are closely related:

(i)

Mine: an excavation made in the earth to extract minerals

(ii)

Mining: the activity, occupation, and industry concerned with the extraction of
minerals

(iii)

Mining engineering: the practice of applying engineering principles to the

development, planning, operation, closure, and reclamation of mines.

Some terms distinguish various types of mined minerals. Geologically, one can distinguish the
following mineral categories:

(iv)

Mineral: a naturally occurring inorganic element or compound having an orderly

internal structure and a characteristic chemical composition, crystal form, and
physical properties

(v)

Rock: any naturally formed aggregate of one or more types of mineral particles

Economic differences in the nature of mineral deposits are evident in the following terms:

(vi)

Ore: a mineral deposit that has sufcient utility and value to be mined at a prot.

(vii)

Gangue: the valueless mineral particles within an ore deposit that must be discarded.

(viii) Waste: the material associated with an ore deposit that must be mined to get at the ore
and must then be discarded. Gangue is a particular type of waste.
A further subdivision of the types of minerals mined by humankind is also common. These terms
are often used in the industry to differentiate between the fuels, metals, and non-metallic
minerals. The following are the most common terms used in this differentiation:

(ix)

Metallic ores: those ores of the ferrous metals (iron, manganese, molybdenum, and

Tungsten), the base metals (copper, lead, zinc, and tin), the precious metals (gold, silver, the
platinum group metals), and the radioactive minerals (uranium, thorium, and radium).
(x)

Non-metallic minerals (also known as industrial minerals): the nonfuel mineral ores
that are not associated with the production of metals. These include phosphate,
potash, halite, trona, sand, gravel, limestone, sulphur, and many others.

(xi)

Fossil fuels (also known as mineral fuels): the organic mineral substances that can be
utilized as fuels, such as coal, petroleum, natural gas, coal bed methane, gilsonite, and
tar sands.

It should be noted that the mining engineer is associated with the extraction of nearly all these
mineral resources. However, the production of petroleum and natural gas has evolved into a
separate industry with a specialized technology of its own. These mineral products will not be
discussed in any detail here.

A discovered mineralization zone will undergo three phases of identification before it is ready
for mining.

(xii)

A Deposit is a mineralized zone that is examined to the extent that the mineral
constituents are identified. The examination may reveal some geological continuity
and approximate grade (tenor), but there is insufficient information to class it as a
Resource.

(xiii) A Resource is a mineralized zone that is sampled and studied to the extent that a
credible estimate of tonnage and grade can be made. This estimate is sufficiently
definitive to divide it into three levels of certainty: Measured, Indicated, and Inferred.
(xiv)

A Measured Resource is the highest order and implies that the measurements are
made in three dimensions at intervals close enough to be used as a basis for detailed
mine planning, as would be the case for stope development in an operating mine. In
the instance of a new project being contemplated, it is typical that there will be little
or no measured resources.

(xv)

An Indicated Resource is one that the estimate of tonnage and grade is trustworthy to
the extent that it may serve as a basis for major expenditures.

(xvi)

An Inferred Resource is a potential resource that is assumed to exist, by reason of

logical extrapolation or interpolation.

(xvii) A Reserve is the portion of a mineral resource that may be extracted at a profit. While
a resource is based upon geological interpretation, a reserve has been analyzed further
to take actual mining into account. A more precise definition is, That part of a
mineral resource that has been analytically demonstrated to justify mining, taking into
account, at the time of determination, mining, metallurgical, marketing, legal,
environmental, social, economic and other applicable conditions.(Extracted from the
Johannesburg Stock Exchange listing requirements: Mineral Companies). A Reserve
may be divided into two categories of certainty: Proven and Probable.

2.1 Availability of Reserves

The existence of a deposit does not necessarily mean that an extraction of the mineral will be
viable. Factors influencing the viability of an extraction are:

Geological: classification of reserves, sizes and properties of a deposit

Technical and Economical: Technical feasibility based on standard technology and economic
viability
Ecology: Environmental regulations
Political situation: stability, climate

Estimation includes determining tons, grade, and degree of certainty (proven or probable).

The essence of mining in extracting mineral wealth from the earth is to drive an excavation or
excavations from the surface to the mineral deposit. Normally, these openings into the earth are
meant to allow personnel to enter into the underground deposit. However, boreholes are at times
used to extract the mineral values from the earth. These elds of boreholes are also called mines,
as they are the means to mine a mineral deposit, even if no one enters into the geologic realm of
the deposit. Note that when the economic protability of a mineral deposit has been established
with some condence, ore or ore deposit is preferred as the descriptive term for the mineral
occurrence. However, coal and industrial mineral deposits are often not so designated, even if
their protability has been rmly established. If the excavation used for mining is entirely open
or operated from the surface, it is termed a surface mine. If the excavation consists of openings

for human entry below the earths surface, it is called an underground mine. The details of the
procedure, layout, and equipment used in the mine distinguish the mining method. This is
determined by the geologic, physical, environmental, economic, and legal circumstances that
pertain to the ore deposit being mined.

Mining is never properly done in isolation, nor is it an entity in itself. It is preceded by geologic
investigations that locate the deposit and economic analyses that prove it nancially feasible.
Following extraction of the fuel, industrial mineral or metallic ore, the run-of-mine material is
generally cleaned or concentrated. This preparation or beneciation of the mineral into a higherquality product is termed mineral processing. The mineral products so produced may then
undergo further concentration, renement, or fabrication during conversion, smelting, or rening
to provide consumer products. The end step in converting a mineral material into a useful
product is marketing.

Quite frequently, excavation in the earth is employed for purposes other than mining. These
include civil and military works in which the object is to produce a stable opening of a desired
size, orientation, and permanence.

Examples are vehicular, water, and sewer tunnels, plus underground storage facilities, waste
disposal areas, and military installations. Many of these excavations are produced by means of
standard mining technology.
Professionally, the elds of endeavour associated with the mineral industries are linked to the
phase or stage in which an activity occurs. Locating and exploring a mineral deposit fall in the
general province of geology and the earth sciences. Mining engineering, already dened,
encompasses the proving (with the geologist), planning, developing, and exploiting of a mineral
deposit. The mining engineer may also be involved with the closure and reclamation of the mine
property, although he or she may share those duties with those in the environmental elds. The
elds of processing, rening, and fabricating are assigned to metallurgy, although there is often
some overlap in the mineral processing area with mining engineering.

The historical purpose of an incentive program in mining was simply to increase productivity.
The assumption was that high productivity means low mining costs, which is the aim of any
mining operation. However, the real goal of any mining operation is to maximize and sustain
profitability. To meet this goal, the modern incentive program must contain the following 14
roles. The first seven relate to technical efficiency and the second to behavioral efficiency.

1. Increase productivity
2. Minimize dilution
3. Reduce downtime
4. Improve maintenance Technical work efficiency Maximize profit
5. Encourage recycling
6. Reduce waste
7. Exercise cross training

1. Improve safety
2. Turn self-interest into teamwork
3. Reduce absenteeism
4. Reduce turnover Effective human relations Sustain profit
5. Improve communications
6. Encourage self-development
7. Minimize grievances

.
3.0 ADVANCEMENTS IN MINING TECHNOLOGY
As one of humanitys earliest endeavoursand certainly one of its rst organized industries
mining has an ancient and venerable history (Gregory, 1980). To understand modern mining
practices, it is useful to trace the evolution of mining technology, which (as pointed out earlier in
this chapter) has paralleled human evolution and the advance of civilization. Mining in its
simplest form began with Palaeolithic humans some 450,000 years ago, evidenced by the int
implements that have been found with the bones of early humans from the Old Stone Age (Lewis

and Clark, 1964). Our ancestors extracted pieces from loose masses of int or from easily
accessed outcrops and, using crude methods of chipping the int, shaped them into tools and
weapons. By the New Stone Age, humans had progressed to underground mining in systematic
openings 2 to 3ft (0.6 to 0.9m) in height and more than 30ft (9m) in depth (Stoces, 1954).
However, the oldest known underground mine, a hematite mine at Bomvu Ridge, Swaziland
(Gregory,1980) ,is from the Old Stone Age and believed to be about 40,000 years old. Early
miners employed crude methods of ground control, ventilation, haulage, hoisting, lighting, and
rock breakage. Nonetheless, mines attained depths of 800ft (250m) by early Egyptian times.
Metallic minerals also attracted the attention of prehistoric humans. Initially, metals were used in
their native form, probably obtained by washing river gravel in placer deposits. With the advent
of the Bronze and Iron Ages, however, humans discovered smelting and learned to reduce ores
into pure metals or alloys, which greatly improved their ability to use these metals. The rst
challenge for early miners was to break the ore and loosen it from the surrounding rock mass.
Often, their crude tools made of bone, wood, and stone were no match for the harder rock ,unless
the rock contained crevices or cracks that could be opened by wedging or prying. As a result,
they soon devised a revolutionary technique called re setting, whereby they rst heated the rock
to expand it and then doused it with cold water to contract and break it. This was one of the rst
great advances in the science of rock breakage and had a greater impact than any other discovery
until dynamite was invented by Alfred Nobel in 1867.

Mining technology, like that of all industry, languished during the Dark Ages. Notably, a
political development in 1185 improved the standing of mining and the status of miners, when
the bishop of Trent granted a charter to miners in his domain. It gave miners legal as well as
social rights, including the right to stake mineral claims. A milestone in the history of mining,
the edict has had long-term consequences that persist to this day. The greatest impact on the need
for and use of minerals, however, was provided by the Industrial Revolution at the close of the
eighteenth century.
Along with the soaring demand for minerals came spectacular improvements in mining
technology, e especially in scientic concepts and mechanization that have continued to this day.

During the last two centuries, there has been great progress in mining technology in many
different areas. Such progress is often made in an evolutionary rather than a revolutionary
manner. Yet every once in a while, a revolutionary discovery comes along and changes the
process of mining profoundly. During the nineteenth century, the invention of dynamite was the
most important advance. In the twentieth century, the invention of continuous mining equipment,
which extracts the softer minerals like coal without the use of explosives, was perhaps the most
notable of these accomplishments. The rst continuous miner was tested in about 1940, with its
usefulness greatly enhanced by the development of tungsten carbide inserts in 1945 by McKenna
Metals Company (now Kennametal). By 1950 the continuous miner had started to replace other
coal mining methods. The era of mechanized mining had begun.

It is not possible to chronicle all of the developments that made mining what it is today. A more
complete chronology of the important events is outlined in Table 1.2. It has been prepared using
the references cited in Section 1.1, as well as those by Stack (1982) and Molloy (1986). These
sources can be used to obtain a more comprehensive list of the crucial events in the development
of mining technology.

4.0 A historical perspective of the minerals industry in Zimbabwe and considering its
current emergence.

Zimbabwe is endowed with mineral wealth which has been successfully exploited for the
economic development of the country. Over 40 different minerals are known to exist and most of
these have been exploited at one time or another.
The Zimbabwe government acknowledges the importance of the minerals sector to the socioeconomic development of the country. Currently the sector employs an average of 55 000 people
formally per annum. The stable political and macroeconomic environment that has persisted
since 2009 as a result of the signing of the GPA and the adoption of the use of multiple
currencies (mostly United States Dollar and South African Rand) has created a conducive
environment for business planning and project execution. Zimbabwe's mining sector has thus
embarked on a growth path as evidenced by positive growth rates across most minerals (with the
exception of granite).
The country through the economic turn-around programme has put in place some measures to
increase gold production. A major component of this programme involves attracting both local
and international (foreign) investment into and expansion projects. By promoting virgin
exploration activities, the country endeavours to increase the rate of discovery of new deposits

through modern exploration, with advanced mining and processing technologies rendering
previous deposits viable.
Among the base metals exploited in Zimbabwe, nickel predominates in terms of value, although
national production only amounts to only about 1200 tonnes annually. Production comes from
several mines located on greenstone belts and form PGMs mining company operations as a byproduct, with two operational nickel smelting and refining facilities and favourable geological
conditions for the existence of nickel deposits, investment into this area is being encouraged.
Cobalt is produced as a by-product of nickel production. Zimbabwe is endowed with a world
class chrome ore resource. This resource is located on the major geological feature known as the
Great dyke. Off dyke chrome occurs in the ultramafic complexes of the Basement Complex. This
occurs as large or small lenticular, pod-like ore bodies. Such ore bodies located in Shurugwi and
Mashava. From this resource, the country produces about 700 000 tonnes per annum of chrome
ore. All the chrome ore produced is processed locally into high carbon ferro-chrome and ferrosilicon chrome for export. There is hope to go further in value addition as all the inputs for
stainless steel production are available locally and input costs for fabrication are competitive.
Although there is high demand for raw chrome in international markets, the country has adopted
the policy not to export raw chrome and exports.
The country has huge iron ore deposits grading 40% Fe and above. Iron ore resources are located
near Redcliff, Charter-Mwenesi range and near Mazowe. Only the resource near Redcliff is
currently being exploited. The only iron and steel production facility has faced mixed fortunes in
recent years. As a result iron ore production has declined from 1.2 million tonnes in 1990 to the
current level of 230 000 tonnes. The current effort aimed at improving the operational capacity
of Zisco will see the increase in FE ore production. With ferro-Cr and nickel also being
produced, the potential for value addition is great.
Zimbabwe is also endowed with some resources of antimony, arsenic and tungsten. The Mutare
greenstone belt is known to host lead-zinc resources. These minerals although known to exist are
not currently being exploited.
The Platinum Group of Metals sector has since witnessed tremendous growth with development
of Mimosa Mine in the south and Ngezi Platinum Mine in the central part of the country.
Platinum production in 2004 was a 400kgs. With a number of expansion projects planned for
Ngezi and Mimosa Mines, combined with production from a new mine at Unki, production of
PGMs is anticipated to grow at high rate. Zimbabwe considers PGMs resource to be an important
resource for the countrys economic development.
Minerals such as lithium and graphite with hardly any local demand require value addition
locally and expansion of production base.

High volume, low value limestone is the backbone of local industrialisation as it is a raw
material in important domestic industries such as cement, fertiliser, iron and steel, paints and
other industrial filers. There is an abundance of limestone to meet the countrys needs.
The distinctive Zimbabwe black granite is a much sought after dimension stone in the world.
There is need to focus on processing the stone locally to add value before export. The resource is
considerable and there is potential for further investment by both local and foreign companies.
Asbestos is an important mineral in Zimbabwe. Asbestos resources are located in the Southern
parts of the country. Mashava and Zvishavane production of asbestos has fallen from 250 000
tonnes to 104 000 tonnes in 2004. There is good potential for increasing production since
asbestos is processed locally into a variety of products that include brake lining for motor
vehicles, roofing sheets and water pipes.
Other minerals such as kyanite, corundum, tantanite, magnesite, pyrites, clays, slates, phosphate
etc. Form the bulk of the large number of exploited minerals despite the fact that the quantities
produced are small. These minerals can be developed at both large and small-scale and by both
local and foreign investors.
A large number of current Exclusive Prospecting Orders (EPOs) are for diamonds. This shows
the confidence that exploration companies have in the future of the countrys diamond industry.
Recent discoveries of diamondiferous kimberlites are a culmination of years of exploration
activity and it is expected that these discoveries will spur other majors to continue with their
programmes.
Coal has been the dominant energy mineral for Zimbabwe. The country boasts of vast resources
of coal particularly in the northOwest and southeast of the country. Hwange colliery company,
the only producing mine at present, has adequate capacity to meet the countrys needs in terms
energy as well as power stations.
Coal-bed methane recently discovered in the northOwest of the country provides an alternative
energy source to coal. The discoveries are considered to be comparable to those in the USA.
Some exploration company have reported potential viable resources awaiting further
development and investment. This resource could be used for power generation, production of
pharmaceuticals, ammonia based fertilizers and other chemicals. Many down stream industries
could be developed resulting in greater employment levels.
The mining sector is a major contributor to foreign currency generation or earnings of the
country. According to RBZ gold production contributed 14% of total foreign currency inflows in
2004. The whole mining sector contributed 32.68% of total foreign currency inflows

5.0 STAGES IN THE LIFE OF A MINE

(1) Prospecting-evaluation
(2) Exploration-evaluation
(3) Feasibility-selecting the mining method-evaluation
(4) Development
(5) Production
The overall sequence of activities in modern mining is often compared with the ve stages in the
life of a mine: prospecting, exploration, development, exploitation, and reclamation. Prospecting
and exploration, precursors to actual mining, are linked and sometimes combined. Geologists
and mining engineers often share responsibility for these two stagesgeologists more involved
with the former, mining engineers more with the latter. Likewise, development and exploitation
are closely related stages; they are usually considered to constitute mining proper and are the
main province of the mining engineer. Reclamation has been added to these stages since the rst
edition, to reect the times.

Closure and reclamation of the mine site has become a necessary part of the mine life cycle
because of the demands of society for a cleaner environment and stricter laws regulating the
abandonment of a mine. The overall process of developing a mine with the future uses of the
land in mind is termed sustainable development. This concept was dened in a book entitled Our
Common Future (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987) as
development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs. The ideas presented therein have been widely endorsed as
a practical means of providing for future generations.
The ve stages in the life of a mine are summarized in Table 1.3 and are discussed in the
following sections.

TABLE 2.0 Chronological Development of Mining Technology

Date

Event

450,000B.C.E.

First mining (at surface), by Palaeolithic humans for stone implements.

40,000

Surface mining progresses underground, in Swaziland, Africa.

30,000

Fired clay pots used in Czechoslovakia.

18,000

Possible use of gold and copper in native form.

5000

Fire setting, used by Egyptians to break rock.

4000

Early use of fabricated metals; start of Bronze Age.

3400

First recorded mining, of turquoise by Egyptians in Sinai.

3000

Probable rst smelting, of copper with coal by Chinese; rst use of iron

Implements by Egyptians.
2000

Earliest known gold artefacts in New World, in Peru.

1000

Steel used by Greeks.

100C.E.

Thriving Roman mining industry.

122

Coal used by Romans in present-day United Kingdom.

1185

Edict by bishop of Trent gives rights to miners.

1524

First recorded mining in New World, by Spaniards in Cuba.

1550

First use of lift pump, at Joachimstal, Czechoslovakia.

1556

First mining technical work, De ReMetallica, published in Germany by

Georgius Agricola.
1585

Discovery of iron ore in North America, in North Carolina.

1600s

Mining commences in eastern United States (iron, coal, lead, gold).

1627

Explosives rst used in European mines, in Hungary (possible prior use

in China).
1646

First blast furnace installed in North America, in Massachusetts.

1716

First school of mines established, at Joachimstal, Czechoslovakia.

1780

Beginning of Industrial Revolution; pumps are rst modern machines

used in mines.
1800s

Mining progresses in United States; gold rushes help open the West.

1815

Sir Humphrey Davy invents miners safety lamp in England.

1855

Bessemer steel process rst used, in England.

Date

Event

1867

Dynamite invented by Nobel, applied to mining.

1903

Era of mechanization and mass production opens in U.S. mining with

development of rst low-grade copper porphyry, in Utah; although the rst modern mine was an
open pit, subsequent operations were underground as well.
1940

First continuous miner initiates the era of mining without explosives.

1945

Tungsten carbide bits developed by McKenna Metals Company (now

Kennametal).

5.1 Prospecting
Prospecting, the rst stage in the utilization of a mineral deposit is the search for ores or other
valuable minerals (coal or non-metallics). Because mineral deposits may be located either at or
below the surface of the earth, both direct and indirect prospecting techniques are employed.

TABLE 3.0 Stages in the Life of a Mine

Stage/
(Project Name)

Procedure

Time Cost/Unit Cost

Precursors to Mining
1. Prospecting
(Mineral deposit)

Search for ore

13 yr $0.210 million

a. Prospecting methods or
Direct: physical geologic

$0.051.00/ton
($0.051.10/tonne)

Indirect: geophysical, geochemical

b. Locate favorable loci (maps,literature,old mines)
c. Air: aerial photography, airborne geophysics, satellite
d. Surface: ground geophysics,geology
e. Spot anomaly,analyze, evaluate

Dening extent and value of

2. Exploration

25yr $115 million

(Ore body) ore(examination/evaluation or

$0.201.50/ton

a.Sample (drilling or , assay, test

excavation),

($0.221.65/tonne)

assay,test

b. Estimate tonnage and grade

c. Valuate deposit (Hoskold formula or discount method): presentvalue

incom

cost
Feasibility study: make decision to abandon or develop.

Mining Proper
3. Development

Opening up ore deposit for

25 yr $10500 million

(Prospect) production or

$0.2510.00/ton

a. Acquire mining rights

($0.27511.00/tonne)

(purchase or lease),if not done in stage 2

b. File environmental impact statement, technology assessment, permit
c. Construct access roads, transport system
d. Locate surface plant, construct facilities
e. Excavate deposit (strip or sink shaft)

Stage/
(Project Name)

4. Exploitation

Procedure

Large-scale production of

Time Cost/Unit Cost

1030 yr $575 million/yr

(Mine) ore or $2.00150/ton

a. Factors in choice of

($2.20165/tonne)

method: geologic, geographic, economic, environmental, societal safety

b. Types of mining methods :Surface: open pit, open cast,etc.

Underground: room and pillar, block caving,etc.
c. Monitor costs and economic payback(310 yr)
Post-mining
5. Reclamation
(Real estate)

Restoration of site
a. Removal of plant and buildings

110 yr $120 million

$0.204.00/ton

b. Reclamation of waste and tailings dumps

c. Monitoring of discharges

The direct method of discovery, normally limited to surface deposits, consists of visual
examination of either the exposure (outcrop) of the deposit or the loose fragments (oat) that
have weathered away from the outcrop. Geologic studies of the entire area augment this simple,
direct technique. By means of aerial photography, geologic maps, and structural assessment of an
area, the geologist gathers evidence by direct methods to locate mineral deposits. Precise
mapping and structural analysis plus microscopic studies of samples also enable the geologist to
locate the hidden as well as surface mineralization.
The most valuable scientic tool employed in the indirect search for hidden mineral deposits is
geophysics, the science of detecting anomalies using physical measurements of gravitational,
seismic, magnetic, electrical, electromagnetic, and radiometric variables of the earth. The
methods are applied from the air, using aircraft and satellites; on the surface of the earth; and
beneath the earth, using methods that probe below the topography. Geochemistry, the
quantitative analysis of soil, rock, and water samples, and geobotany, the analysis of plant
growth patterns, can also be employed as prospecting tools.

5.2 Exploration
(a) Initial exploration
(b) On-going exploration

The second stage in the life of a mine, exploration, determines as accurately as possible the size
and value of a mineral deposit, utilizing techniques similar to but more rened than those used in
prospecting. The line of demarcation between prospecting and exploration is not sharp; in fact, a
distinction may not be possible in some cases. Exploration generally shifts to surface and
subsurface locations, using a variety of measurements to obtain a more positive picture of the
extent and grade of the ore body. Representative samples may be subjected to chemical,
metallurgical, X ray, spectrographic or radiometric evaluation techniques that are meant to
enhance the investigators knowledge of the mineral deposit. Samples are obtained by chipping
outcrops, trenching, tunnelling, and drilling; in addition, borehole logs may be provided to study
the geologic and structural makeup of the deposit. Rotary, percussion, or diamond drills can be
used for exploration purposes. However, diamond drills are favoured because the cores they
yield provide knowledge of the geologic structure. The core is normally split along its axis; one
half is analysed, and the other half is retained intact for further geologic study.
An evaluation of the samples enables the geologist or mining engineer to calculate the tonnage
and grade, or richness, of the mineral deposit. He or she estimates the mining costs, evaluates the
recovery of the valuable minerals, determines the environmental costs, and assesses other
foreseeable factors in an effort to reach a conclusion about the protability of the mineral
deposit. The crux of the analysis is the question of whether the property is just another mineral
deposit or an ore body. For an ore deposit, the overall process is called reserve estimation, that is,
the examination and valuation of the ore body .At the conclusion of this stage the project is
developed, traded to another party, or abandoned.

5.3 Development

In the third stage, development, the work of opening a mineral deposit for exploitation is
performed. With it begins the actual mining of the deposit, now called the ore. Access to the
deposit must be gained either (1) by stripping the overburden, which is the soil and/or rock
covering the deposit, to expose the near-surface ore for mining or (2) by excavating openings
from the surface to access more deeply buried deposits to prepare for underground mining.

In either case, certain preliminary development work, such as acquiring water and mineral rights,
buying surface lands, arranging for nancing, and preparing permit applications and an
environmental impact statement (EIS), will generally be required before any development takes
place. When these steps have been achieved, the provision of a number of requirementsaccess
roads, power sources, mineral transportation systems, mineral processing facilities, waste
disposal areas, ofces, and other support facilitiesmust precede actual mining in most cases.
Stripping of the overburden will then proceed if the minerals are to be mined at the surface.
Economic considerations determine the stripping ratio, he ratio of waste removed to ore
recovered; it may range from as high as 45 yd.
1.0 yd. /ton(0.8 m

/ton(38 m

/tonne) for coal mines to as low as

/tonne) in metal mines. Some non-metallic mines have no overburden to

remove; the mineral is simply excavated at the surface.

Development for underground mining is generally more complex and expensive. It requires
careful planning and layout of access openings for efcient mining, safety, and permanence. The
principal openings may be shafts, slopes, or adits; each must be planned to allow passage of
workers, machines, ore, waste, air, water, and utilities. Many metal mines are located along
steeply dipping deposits and thus are opened from shafts, while drifts, winzes, and raises serve
the production areas. Many coal and non-metallic mines are found in nearly horizontal deposits.
Their primary openings may be drifts or entries, which may be distinctly different from those of
metal mines.

5.4 Exploitation
Exploitation, the fourth stage of mining, is associated with the actual recovery of minerals from
the earth in quantity. Although development may continue, the emphasis in the production stage
is on production. Usually only enough development is done prior to exploitation to ensure that
production, once started, can continue uninterrupted throughout the life of the mine. The mining
method selected for exploitation is determined mainly by the characteristics of the mineral
deposit and the limits imposed by safety, technology, environmental concerns, and economics.
Geologic conditions, such as the dip, shape, and strength of the ore and the surrounding rock,
play a key role in selecting the method. Traditional exploitation methods fall into two broad
categories based on locale: surface or underground. Surface mining includes mechanical

excavation methods such as open pit and open cast (strip mining), and aqueous methods such as
placer and solution mining. Underground mining is usually classied in three categories of
methods: unsupported, supported, and caving.

5.5 Feasibility Studies

A feasibility study is an evaluation of a proposed project to determine whether and how it can be
mined economically. Detailed Feasibility Studies extend the evaluation to determine the
maximum profit or most secure profit to be obtained and provide a blue print for implementation.

5.5.1Order-of-Magnitude
Order-of-Magnitude Feasibility Studies constitute an initial financial appraisal and are often
carried out by a single individual. To be effective, this study should include an elementary mine
plan. Order-of-Magnitude Studies may evaluate whether to initiate or proceed further with an
exploration project that has an indicated mineral resource.

5.5.2Preliminary Feasibility
Preliminary Feasibility or Pre-feasibility Studies are the second order and are useful in the
following cases.
Due diligence work
Determining whether to proceed with a Detailed Feasibility Study
A reality check on detailed estimates to pin point areas meriting further attention
Preliminary Studies are accurate to 25-30% and are typically obtained by factoring known unit
costs and estimated gross dimensions or quantities once conceptual or preliminary engineering
has been completed. Preliminary Studies are usually completed by a small group of multidisciplined technical people.

5.5.3Detailed Feasibility

Detailed Feasibility Studies are normally the highest order and most important because they are
the litmus test for proceeding with a project. Typically, Detailed Studies are the basis for capital
appropriation and provide the budget figures for the project.
They may be completed with a financial accuracy of 10% provided that a significant portion of
the formal engineering is completed. In some cases, Detailed Studies are completed to an
accuracy of 15% with quantities derived from general arrangement drawings only. When the
engineering is later sufficiently advanced, a second estimate is made to an accuracy of 10% to
provide confirmation and firm budget numbers.

6.0Mining Methods
(1) Surface Mining
(2)Placer Mining
(3)Underground Mining
(4)Marine Mining
The selection of the method to be applied is made to effect the most economic recovery of the
minerals.

6.1 Surface and Underground mining

6.1.1 Characteristics of the Mining Methods

6.1.1.1Open pit mining: All the mineral within pit limits can be recovered; mass production
is possible; high degree of mechanization and automation; high productivity; safe working
places; access to selective mining is not always possible depending on the mining sequence.

Figure 6.1: Limeston Open pit at BIMCO in Kwekwe, ESSAR (former ZISCO)

6.1.2Underground mining: Recovery of the mineral contained in the body depends on its
distribution and the mining methods applied; productivity is limited by the method applied and
the dimension of production sites; working places are subjected to hazards by rockfall, rockburst,
gases, fire, explosions and water; access to high grade parts is possible in all the three directions.

7.0 CLASSES OF MINING MACHINERY

1ST CLASS: Equipment and processes that can extract the mineral from the surrounding rock
without movement of the surrounding material e.g. well mining, solution mining in-situ leaching
2nd CLASS: Equipment that can break, load, haul and dump material in one operating cycle e.g.
bucket-wheel excavator in a direct casting application, stripping shovel

3rd CLASS; Equipment that can either break, load and haul or load, haul and dump in one
operating cycle, eg LHD
4th CLASS: Equipment that can be used for only two functions eg wheel barrow
5th CLASS; Equipment that can only execute one of the basic mining activities, eg shovel in
blasted material

It should always be envisaged to utilize multi-purpose equipment. This does not mean the need
to use most sophisticated machinery but the most suitable combination of equipment and
processes for a specific mining operation.

Figure 7.0: Drill rig, Grader and Dump trucks at BIMCO/ Ripple Creek Mine

Figure 7.1: Bulldozers fleet: wheel tyres and crawlers

Figure 7.2: Crawler shovel (loading) at BIMCO in Redcliff Kwekwe

Ore bodies come in every imaginable geometric shape. While surface hard rock mines apply the
Open Pit method to almost any ore configuration, a large number of underground mining
methods have been developed primarily in response to the requirements of differing geometry
and the geo mechanical properties of the host and surrounding rock.
Mining Method Selection
To select a mining method, certain data describing the ore body is required.
Geological cross sections and a longitudinal section
Level maps
Block model (grade model)
Geo mechanical characteristics of the host and surrounding rock.

One approach is to find one or more comparable ore bodies that are being or were mined
successfully and use that mining method(s) to determine the most likely methods to investigate
further.

8.0 Cost Estimating

Estimating for a mining company or engineering firm is the procedure whereby the cost of a
proposed project is determined in advance. For a contractor competing against others, the
estimate is normally the best price the company can afford to bid. While some estimates may
require scheduling, conceptual design, and development of procedures, a basic estimate simply
includes take-off (quantity survey), pricing, extension, and summarization. The quantity take-off
can normally be done to good precision while the efficiency of labour (i.e. man-hours) is difficult
to estimate accurately from one project to another. For this reason, it is commonly advised that
labour-intensive estimates include an added contingency. The most difficult projects to estimate
in hard rock mining are usually those prepared for rehabilitation of existing mine workings or
equipment, mainly due to the fact that the quantity of work required can be difficult or
impossible to measure accurately in advance. Estimates usually are divided into direct and
indirect costs. Estimating direct costs is a fundamental exercise; however, estimating indirect
costs requires a project schedule, since indirect costs are mainly time dependent. For this reason,
estimators are frequently schedulers as well.

8.1 Key Definitions and Abbreviations

Ball Park = horseback = seat-of-the-pants = back of the envelope = a snap estimate.
Capex = capital expenditure.
Direct Costs = costs that are unique to a particular item of work. Direct costs usually include
hands-on labor, lead hands, permanent materials, materials consumed in the work and equipment
specifically used for work performance.
EPCM = engineering, procurement, construction, and project management.
Indirect Costs = Indirect costs can be further divided into cost dependent items (such as
insurance and overheads) and time dependent items (such as supervision, maintenance/service
personnel, equipment rentals, and utility billings).

 Lump Sum Allowance = A cost entered for an item of small value that is not yet specified or
defined and therefore cannot be properly estimated.
Order of Magnitude = conceptual = range = the second order of estimate.
Opex = operating expenditure.
Pro Rata = the rational division of one cost for inclusion into other applicable groups.
Salvage Value = the estimated amount that will be received for mining equipment at the end of
its useful life when it may only be salvaged for useful parts and components. This is net of
removal and selling or stocking expenses. The term salvage value is preferable to scrap
value if the item is not to be scrapped outright.
Residual Value = at any time, the estimated or actual, "net realizable value" (that is, proceeds
less removal and selling costs) of an asset that has useful operating life remaining. It may be the
estimated or quoted buy-out price for a piece of mining equipment at the end of a particular
project.
Take-off = quantity survey =measurement of quantities to be estimated.
W/O = write-off on equipment as a lump sum or rate (i.e. 5% of cost per month on mobile
fleet).

9.1 Surface Mining

Surface mining is the predominant exploitation procedure worldwide, producing in the United
States about 85% of all minerals, excluding petroleum and natural gas. Almost all metallic ores
(98%), about 97% of the non-metallic ores, and 61% of the coal in the United States are mined
using surface methods (U.S. Geological Survey,1995; Energy Information Administration,2000),
and most of these are mined by open pit or open cast methods. In open pit mining, a mechanical
extraction method, a thick deposit is generally mined in benches or steps, although thin deposits
may require only a single bench or face. Open pit or open cast mining is usually employed to
exploit a near-surface deposit or one that has a low stripping ratio. It often necessitates a large
capital investment but generally results in high productivity, low operating cost, and good safety
conditions.
The aqueous extraction methods depend on water or another liquid (e.g., dilute sulphuric acid,
weak cyanide solution, or ammonium carbonate) to extract the mineral. Placer mining is used to

exploit loosely consolidated deposits like common sand and gravel or gravels containing gold,
tin, diamonds, platinum, titanium, or coal. Hydrau-licking utilizes a high-pressure stream of
water that is directed against the mineral deposit (normally but not always a placer), undercutting
it, and causing its removal by the erosive actions of the water. Dredging performed from oating
vessels, accomplishes the extraction of the minerals mechanically or hydraulically. Solution
mining includes both borehole mining, such as the methods used to extract sodium chloride or
sulphur, and leaching, either through drill holes or in dumps or heaps on the surface. Placer and
solution mining are among the most economical of all mining methods but can only be applied to
limited categories of mineral deposits.

Figure 9.0: Kalgoorlie Super Pit - Mining massive low grade deposit

Figure 9.1: Open Pit showing Underground Portal Access

Figure 9.2: Goonyella Open Pit showing XPB4100 shovel and 300 t trucks

Figure 9.3: Goonyella Open Pit

Figure 9.4: Cockatoo Island - Mining steeply dipping orebody on side of an island

10.0 Underground Mining

Listed below are the specific reasons for completing an underground exploration program.
Confirm existing ore reserves
Define the orebody
Obtain geotechnical data
Obtain a bulk sample
Test mining methods
Measure ground water flows
Further exploration

Underground methodsunsupported, supported, and cavingare differentiated by the type of

wall and roof supports used, the conguration and size of production openings, and the direction
in which mining operations progress. The unsupported methods of mining are used to extract
mineral deposits that are roughly tabular (plus at or steeply dipping) and are generally
associated with strong ore and surrounding rock. These methods are termed unsupported because
they do not use any articial pillars to assist in the support of the openings. However, generous
amounts of roof bolting and localized support measures are often used. Room-and-pillar mining
is the most common unsupported method, used primarily for at-lying seams or bedded deposits
like coal, trona, limestone, and salt. Support of the roof is provided by natural pillars of the
mineral that are left standing in a systematic pattern. Stope-and-pillar mining (a stope is a
production opening in a metal mine) is a similar method used in non-coal mines where thicker,
more irregular ore bodies occur; the pillars are spaced randomly and located in low-grade ore so
that the high-grade ore can be extracted. These two methods account for almost all of the
underground mining in horizontal deposits in the United States and a very high proportion of the
underground tonnage as well.
Two other methods applied to steeply dipping deposits are also included in the unsupported
category. In shrinkage stoping, mining progresses upward, with horizontal slices of ore being
blasted along the length of the stope. A portion of the broken ore is allowed to accumulate in the
stope to provide a working platform for the miners and is thereafter withdrawn from the stope
through chutes. Sublevel stoping differs from shrinkage stoping by providing sublevels from
which vertical slices are blasted. In this manner, the stope is mined horizontally from one end to
the other. Shrinkage stoping is more suitable than sublevel stoping for stronger ore and weaker
wall rock. Supported mining methods are often used in mines with weak rock structure. Cut-andll stoping is the most common of these methods and is used primarily in steeply dipping metal
deposits. The cut-and-ll method is practiced both in the overhand (upward) and in the
underhand (downward) directions. As each horizontal slice is taken, the voids are lled with a
variety of ll types to support the walls. The ll can be rock waste, tailings, cemented tailings, or
other suitable materials. Cut-and-ll mining is one of the more popular methods used for vein

deposits and has recently grown in use. Square-set stoping also involves backlling mine voids;
however, it relies mainly on timber sets to support the walls during mining. This mining method
is rapidly disappearing in North America because of the high cost of labour. However, it still
nds occasional use in mining high-grade ores or in countries where labour costs are low. Stull
stoping is a supported mining method using timber or rock bolts in tabular, pitching ore bodies. It
is one of the methods that can be applied to ore bodies that have dips between 10 and 45. It
often utilizes articial pillars of waste to support the roof. Caving methods are varied and
versatile and involve caving the ore and/or the overlying rock. Subsidence of the surface
normally occurs afterward. Longwall mining is a caving method particularly well adapted to
horizontal seams, usually coal, at some depth. In this method, a face of considerable length (a
long face or wall) is maintained, and as the mining progresses, the overlying strata are caved,
thus promoting the breakage of the coal itself. A different method, sublevel caving, is employed
for a dipping tabular or massive deposit. As mining progresses downward, each new level is
carved into the mine openings, with the ore materials being recovered while the rock remains
behind. Block caving is a large-scale or bulk mining method that is highly productive, low in
cost, and used primarily on massive deposits that must be mined underground. It is most
applicable to weak or moderately strong ore bodies that readily break up when caved. Both block
caving and longwall mining are widely used because of their high productivity.
In addition to these conventional methods, innovative methods of mining are also evolving.
These are applicable to unusual deposits or may employ unusual techniques or equipment.
Examples include automation, rapid excavation, underground gasication or liquefaction, and
deep-sea mining.

10.1 The Role of Rock Mechanics

In this case (Thames Tunnel), an excavation method to suit the ground conditions is what is
required. Altering the ground to satisfy a method is not practical here. Sir Marc Brunel 1830
A conflict remains between a traditional or reactive and a progressive or proactive
concept of rock mechanics. The traditional concept says that rock mechanics should facilitate
practiced mining procedures (i.e. be reactive). The progressive concept says rock mechanics
should guide determination of all the procedures in the first place (i.e. be proactive). Based on
the traditional (fragmented) concept, the role of rock mechanics may be categorized as follows.

 Location, support, and protective pillars for mine entries such as shafts.
Dimension, support, and geometry of mine development headings.
Size, pattern, and orientation of stopes and stope pillars.
Sequence and timing of extraction.
Prediction of backfill performance.
Procedures at mine closure.

11.0 UNIT OPERATIONS OF MINING

During the development and exploitation stages of mining when natural materials are extracted
from the earth, remarkably similar unit operations are normally employed. The unit operations of
mining are the basic steps used to produce mineral from the deposit, and the auxiliary operations
that are used to support them. The steps contributing directly to mineral extraction are production
operations, which constitute the production cycle of operations. The ancillary steps that support
the production cycle are termed auxiliary operations. The production cycle employs unit
operations that are normally grouped into rock breakage and materials handling. Breakage
generally consists of drilling and blasting, and materials handling encompasses loading or
excavation and haulage (horizontal transport) and sometimes hoisting (vertical or inclined
transport). Thus, the basic production cycle consists of these unit operations:

Production cycle = drill + blast + load + haul

Although production operations tend to be separate and cyclic in nature, the trend in modern
mining and tunnelling is to eliminate or combine functions and to increase continuity of
extraction. For example, in coal and other soft rock mines, continuous miners break and load the
mineral to eliminate drilling and blasting; boring machines perform the same tasks in mediumhard rock. The cycle of operations in surface and underground mining differs primarily by the

scale of the equipment. Specialized machines have evolved to meet the unique needs of the two
regimes.
In modern surface mining, blast holes of 3 to 15in. (75 to 380mm) in diameter are produced by
rotary or percussion drills for the placement of explosives when consolidated rock must be
removed. The explosive charge is then inserted and detonated to reduce the overburden or ore to
a size range suitable for excavation. The broken material is loaded by shovel, dragline, or wheel
loader into haulage unitsgenerally trucksfor transport. Railroad cars are also used for
haulage, and belt conveyors are often used after the material is crushed. Soil and coal are often
moved in the same manner, though blasting is sometimes unnecessary. In the quarrying of
dimension stone, the blocks are often freed without blasting, using wire saws or other mechanical
devices.
In underground mining, the production cycle is similar, although the equipment used may be
scaled down in size. Smaller drill holes are used, trucks are sometimes replaced by shuttle cars,
and belt conveyors are more prevalent. Coal, salt, potash, and trona are often mined without the
use of explosives or mined after undercutting the face to reduce the consumption of explosives.
In addition to the operations of the production cycle, certain auxiliary operations must be
performed in many cases. Underground, these usually include roof support, ventilation and airconditioning, power supply, pumping, maintenance, lighting, communications, and delivery of
compressed air, water, and supplies to the working sections. In surface mining, the primary
auxiliary operations include those providing slope stability, pumping, power supply,
maintenance, waste disposal, and supply of material to the production centres.

12.0 ECONOMICS OF THE MINERAL INDUSTRIES

12.1Mineral Production
It has been estimated that only a fraction of 1% of the earths surface is underlain with mineral
deposits of commercial value. From this resource, the United States extracted nearly 60 billion in
mineral values in 1997: $27 billion worth of industrial minerals, $20 billion worth of coal, and
$12 billion worth of metals(National Mining Association,1998). The net value of exports of

nonfuel mineral raw materials and materials processed from minerals has a value of about $35
billion per annum. In addition, about 355,000 people are employed by the mining industry in the
United States, and every man, woman, and child in this country requires 23 tons (21 tonnes) of
minerals, including nearly 4 tons (3.6 tonnes) of coal, each year to maintain his or her modern
lifestyle (National Mining Association, 1998). World consumption of minerals has increased to
such an extent in modern times that more minerals were used in the twentieth century than were
used since the beginning of history. This has occurred because we are now a society that depends
on automobiles, trains, and airplanes for transportation; telephones, television, and computers for
communications; fertilizers and heavy machinery for our agricultural output; industrial minerals
for home building products; and coal-red and nuclear plants for our electrical power. These
human and industrial services in turn depend on the production of minerals and mineral products
in great amounts. The United States produces a very large tonnage of mineral products, but it has
nevertheless become a major and growing importer of minerals, as shown in Figure 12. This
country now imports more than 70% of its potash, chromium, tungsten, tin, and cobalt, plus
almost all (better than many minerals, the United States is also producing more of the platinum
group metals, gold, and diamonds. Conservation of mineral resources is currently an important
issue to the general public. Society is becoming much more cognizant of the need to conserve
energy, minerals, and the environment. Accordingly, the mining industry has endorsed a policy
that favours extraction of minerals in a more sustainable manner (National Mining Association,
1998). This policy favours mining as long as the effects on the environment or the economic
welfare are not a burden on future generations. Extreme conservationist groups often attempt to
push for punitive regulatory controls of mining activities and even a ban on mining. However,
societal needs dictate that a compromise between the most strident conservationist viewpoint and
the most open mineral development concept be adopted for the present and the future. This text
attempts to present a balanced approach to mining in the environmental world in which we live.
n 90%) of its uorspar, manganese, and aluminum ore.

FIGURE 12.0 U.S. net import reliance for selected nonfuel mineral materials in 1998.
Source: U.S. Geological Survey (1999).

13.0Mineral Economics
The uniqueness of minerals as economic products accounts for the complexity of mineral
economics and the business of mining(Vogely,1985; Strauss,1986). Minerals are unevenly
distributed and, unlike agricultural or forest products, cannot reproduce or be replaced. A mineral
deposit may therefore be considered a depleting asset whose production is restricted to the area
in which it occurs. These factors impose limitations on a mining company in the areas of
Business practices, nancing, and production practices. Because its mineral assets are constantly
being depleted,a mining company must discover additional reserves or acquire them by purchase
to stay in the mining business.
Other peculiar features of the mineral industries are associated with operations. Production costs
tend to increase with depth and declining grade. Thus, low-cost operations are mined rst,
followed by the harder-to-mine deposits. In addition, commodity prices are subject to market
price swings in response to supply and demand, which can make the nancial risk of a long-term
minerals project quite risky. A change in mining or processing technology can also drastically
alter the economic landscape. The pattern of usage, in terms of intensity of use (lb/capita or
kg/capita) and total consumption of metals on the world market for the nonferrous metals, shows
that the intensity of usage of many of these metals continues to go down while overall
consumption goes up (Crowson,1998). Any swing in intensity of use due to substitution or
recycling can greatly affect the market price of a metal. Mining companies must therefore keep
their prices low by further improvements in productivity, or market price drops can easily create
great economic hardships. Some minerals, such as precious metals, iron, and most of the base
metals, can be recycled economically, thereby affecting the markets for freshly mined metal.
This is good practice and favorable for the future of humankind, but it can create economic
problems if the market price is adversely affected.

FIGURE 13.0 . Periods in the growth of a countrys mineral industries. (After Hewett,
1929; Lovering, 1943. By permission from the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and
Exploration, Inc., Littleton, CO.)

Substitutes for a particular mineral may be developed, particularly if the price of the mineral
remains high. For example, aluminum and plastics have often been substituted for copper, and
plastics have been substituted for a variety of other metals as well as for glass. At times in recent
history certain minerals have been exceptions to economic laws because their prices have been
xed by government decree or cartels. Ofcial prices of gold, silver, and uranium have been
regulated by government action, although they now uctuate in free world markets. Cartels
controlling industrial diamonds, oil, mercury, and tin have strongly inuenced their market
prices during certain time periods. However, many of these cartels have weakened or collapsed
because of competition from new suppliers. It has long been recognized that a given mineral-rich
country can follow a fairly predictable pattern in its economic development, based on the state of
its minerals industry (Hewett,1929; Lovering,1943). Five periods have been identied that reect
the periods of discovery, exploitation, and exhaustion of its mineral industry. The characteristic
periods of mineral industry development are shown in Figure 13; each is described in the
following list.

1. Period of mine development: Exploration, discovery of new districts, many small mines
working; rst recognition of large deposits and development of larger mines; rapidly increasing
production of metals.

2. Period of smelter development: Fewer new discoveries; small mines becoming exhausted, but
increasing output from large mines; many smelters competing for ore.
3. Period of industrial development: Decreasing costs, increasing standard of living; rapid
accumulation of wealth; expanding internal and external markets; approaching the zenith of
commercial power.
4. Period of rapid depletion of inexpensive raw materials at home: Ever increasing costs of
mining and materials produced; more and more energy is required to get the same amount of raw
material. Mines and smelters continue to decline. Some foreign markets are lost; foreign imports,
both raw materials and manufactured products, invade the home market.
5. Period of decreasing internal and external markets: Increasing dependence on foreign sources
of raw materials brings increasing costs to manufacturers.
This period can be characterized by a decreasing standard of living with its accompanying social
and political problems; quotas, tariffs, subsidies, cartels, and other articial expedients are used
in the effort to maintain a competitive price in the domestic and world markets. This is a period
of decreasing commercial power. As current-day examples of the cycle in Figure 13,many lessdeveloped countries fall into period 1,Australia into period 2,Russia in period 3,the United States
in period 4,and the United Kingdom and Japan in period 5. Some economists maintain that this
cycle is oversimplied and that it can be modied by technology or dedication to efcient
production. For example, Japan after World War II arose from the ashes to become a world
power without the benet of extensive mineral resources. The Japanese had previously extracted
nearly all of their inexpensive minerals. However, they purchased raw materials on the open
market, created efcient automobile and electronics industries, and prospered by means of the
value added to the mineral products.
At times during its history, the U.S. government has maintained a stockpile of strategic minerals
to guard against shortages in case of war or economic blackmail. The practice became common
after 1939 and sharply increased after 1946 because of Cold War tensions. More recently, the
government has been reducing its stockpiles. This shift is the result of better access to minerals
around the world and a less threatening world political scene since the breakup of the Soviet
Union. Mineral companies have often been critical of the stockpiling policy, inasmuch as sudden
large purchases from the stockpile can have drastic effects on the price of a given commodity.
An informative history of the U.S. strategic minerals stockpile is given by Perkins (1997).

A further aspect of mineral economics concerns the nancing and marketing of mines and
mineral properties. Mining enterprises are nanced in much the same manner as other businesses
(Wanless, 1984; Tinsley et al., 1985). Because of greater nancial risks, however, the expected
return on investment is higher and the payback period shortened in a mining enterprise. Mineral
properties as well as mines are marketable. The selling price is determined generally by a
valuation based on the report of an engineer or geologist; the value of future earnings is usually
discounted to the date of purchase in computing the present value of the property. Mineral
properties may be determined to have worth because they are very rich, very large, easily
accessible, in great demand, favorably located, cheaply mineable, or militarily strategic.

14.0 COMPUTER APPLICATIONS AND USAGE

In todays world, computers are becoming more useful and nding more application to
composition, engineering calculations, library research, and general communications than ever
before. It is perhaps worthwhile to compare the progress in the area of computations over the last
few decades. Both authors of this text were trained as engineers to perform their computations on
a slide rule in their respective university educations. You, the student, were probably introduced
to computers in elementary school and most likely became quite procient in their use before
entering your rst college course. It is important, therefore, that you continue to develop your
skills on computers for every aspect of your future as professionals. The rst aspect of computers
considered here is their use in retrieval of information of value in your studies. To provide useful
information, the following World Wide Web (WWW) sites are provided as an introduction to
useful sources of minerals data and other information of interest to mineral engineers. The web
addresses are current at the time of publication; however, web sites are constantly changing.

15.0 Reclamation
The nal stage in the operation of most mines is reclamation, the process of closing a mine and
re-contouring, re-vegetating, and restoring the water and land values. The best time to begin the
reclamation process of a mine is before the rst excavations are initiated. In other words, mine
planning engineers should plan the mine so that the reclamation process is considered and the

overall cost of mining plus reclamation is minimized, not just the cost of mining itself. The new
philosophy in the mining industry is sustainability, that is, the meeting of economic and
environmental needs of the present while enhancing the ability of future generations to meet their
own needs (National Mining Association, 1998). In planning for the reclamation of any given
mine, there are many concerns that must be addressed. The rst of these is the safety of the mine
site, particularly if the area is open to the general public. The removal of ofce buildings,
processing facilities, transportation equipment, utilities, and other surface structures must
generally be accomplished. The mining company is then required to seal all mine shafts, adits,
and other openings that may present physical hazards. Any existing high walls or other geologic
structures may require mitigation to prevent injuries or death due to geologic failures. The
second major issue to be addressed during reclamation of a mine site is restoration of the land
surface, the water quality, and the waste disposal areas so that long-term water pollution, soil
erosion, dust generation, or vegetation problems do not occur. The restoration of native plants is
often a very important part of this process, as the plants help build a stable soil structure and
naturalize the area. It may be necessary to carefully place any rock or tailings with acidproducing properties in locations where rainfall has little effect on the material and acid
production is minimized. The same may be true of certain of the heavy metals that pollute
streams. Planning of the waste dumps, tailings ponds, and other disturbed areas will help prevent
pollution problems, but remediation work may also be necessary to complete the reclamation
stage of mining and satisfy the regulatory agencies.
The nal concern of the mine planning engineer may be the subsequent use of the land after
mining is completed. Old mine sites have been converted to wildlife refuges, shopping malls,
golf courses, airports, lakes, underground Storage facilities, real estate developments, solid waste
disposal areas, and other uses that can benet society. By planning the mine for a subsequent
development, mine planners can enhance the value of the mined land and help convert it to a use
that the public will consider favourable. The successful completion of the reclamation of a mine
will enhance public opinion of the mining industry and keep the mining company in the good
graces of the regulatory agencies. The fth stage of the mine is thus of paramount importance
and should be planned at the earliest possible time in the life of the mine.

15.1 Reclamation: Conservation in Mining

Mineral deposits are non renewable and therefore a wasting asset. Conservation is absolutely
necessary and can be achieved through several approaches.

Economical: maximisation of profit over the full lifetime of the deposit. Efficient extraction
(high grade and lower grade ore)
Geological Analysis: continuing exploration and evaluation of reserves
Technical development: more efficient mass movement and extraction. Extraction of by-products
Operation and Management: supervision, safety, health, stable work force
Legislation: control to avoid wasteful mining, approval of operational plans
The mining principle Keep your backside free is to be strictly adhered to when Conservation in
mining is practised. This is not only a safety requirement but it also means that all the processes
following production at the face must have a higher capacity than that of production in order to
give the system the flexibility it needs to be effective.