![]() Now that I’ve given you the classical mining engineering definition of quarrying, you should be aware that just about everybody uses this word, "quarry" to describe any open pit operation in stone! Oh well… A few examples of commodities mined by this method include Georgia marble and Vermont granite. Unlike open pit mining in which benching is required to prevent failure of the sides or pit slopes, the high strength and competency of the rock mass in quarries is such that vertical walls of 1000’ or more can be excavated. The goal in the mining of these products is to remove large slabs that can be cut and machined to exacting architectural applications. The term dimension stone encompasses certain stone products used for architectural purposes such as granite countertops, marble flooring, and monuments, among a few others. Quarrying is a method of extracting dimension stone. A few examples of commodities mined by this method include coal and phosphate. One is known as area mining, and is applicable when the terrain is relatively flat and the other is contour mining, better suited for mountains regions. There are two important sub methods for open cast mining. Although it is similar to open pit mining, the distinguishing characteristic is that the overburden is not hauled away to waste dumps but rather, it is immediately cast directly into the adjacent mined-out cut. Open cast mining is also known as strip mining and is used for bedded deposits, and most commonly for coal. Sutterlin, © Penn State University, is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Open cast mining
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |