SURFACE MINING COURSE NOTES

Prepared by PJK Leeuw

Globally there are more surface mines than underground mines. For example, in 2006 there were
approximately 25 000 surface mines producing industrial minerals, 100,000 quarries and 2,500 metal
mines in the world. In 2007 the production of surface mines producing metal ores mined an
estimated 4.5 billion tonnes/year and for that they had to move an estimated 15 billion tonnes of
waste. However, the mining of coal at industrial scale is by far the largest globally in terms of the
volume produced and it comes mostly from surface mines.

It is estimated that 84% of mines globally are surface mines and only 16% are surface mines. Iron ore
is almost entirely produced through surface mining (5% comes from underground) whereas 80% of
underground mines are found in 10 countries, namely China, South Africa, Chile, Australia, Canada,
Kazakhstan, Russia, Sweden, Poland, and USA.

In 2013 there were approximately 1,600 operational mines in South Africa with some 6,000 shafts
that have reached the end of their lives and need to be rehabilitated. South Africa, despite the
prevalence of quarries, it is virtually and underground mining country with few surface mining
operations.

2. DETERMINANTS OF SURFACE OR UNDERGROUND MINING

The depth of the orebody below surface is invariably the dominant factor that determines whether
surface of underground mining methods should be used for the exploitation of the resource. When a
choice of surface or underground is done, the second dominant factor that dictates the mining
method is the orebody type.

2.1. Depth below surface

Exploration results provide information, among others, with respect to how far beneath the surface
is the orebody. Note that topography can have bearing on the depth of mining, for example a flat
lying orebody outcropping on the side of a hill in few tens of metres can buried under a huge heap of
overburden that renders surface mining uneconomical.

The depth beneath the surface can also determine whether or not explosives are used for mining. It
can be seen in Figure 1 that the choice between explosive or non-explosive methods leads to a
choice of mining method. Non-explosive mining methods are generally used in oxidised ores that
outcropping or generally that are few metres below the top soil where dozing and/or reaping, or
motor scraping techniques can be applied. Where the orebody is under a body of shallow water on
the landmass, dredging can be used. Artisanal miners also used non-explosive techniques in their
mining activities. The industrial scale mining, with the exception of orebodies hosted in sandy waste,
uses explosives to loosen the hardened host rocks and ores. Generally, there are three types of
surface mining methods used at the industrial scale, namely strip mining, terrace (bench) mining and
open pit.

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2.2. Orebody type

Strip mining and terrace mining are also known as open cast mining methods and are used to mine
stratified orebodies while open pits are used in mining of non-stratified orebodies (see Figure 2). The
major distinction between open casting methods and open pit is that in the former, the pit migrates
laterally from the original starting point as mining follows the deposition of the resource over a large
area but they tend to have comparatively limited depth. Strip mining is used where there are few
seams to mine that are closer to surface. Where number of seams to mine exceeds two, or where
depth renders strip mining infeasible, terrace mining is used. Both mining methods are applicable
where the dip of the orebody is gentle.

Figure 1: Surface and underground mining methods

The open pit on the other hand tends to descents to greater depths than open cast methods over
time due mining activities and there is no migration of a pit, only the enlargement thereof. While it is
used for non-stratified orebodies, it is also used in stratified orebodies with dips that render open
cast methods infeasible.

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Figure 2: Common surface mining methods.

3. SURFACE MINING PROCESS

Surface mining entails exploration for the orebody and the application of modifying factors to
convert deposit through numerous stages to eventually mineable reserves. Generally mining starts
with the removal of the relatively soft topsoil with equipment such as motor/bowl scrapers, dozers,
shovels and trucks, BWE and draglines. In most cases this is non-explosive phase. Topsoil is stockpile
separately from other form of waste and is reclaimed later for rehabilitation purposes.

The next activity after topsoil removal is waste stripping or overburden removal and equipment such
as drill rigs, explosive trucks, shovels and trucks, draglines are used. Subsoil overburden tends to be
harder and requires the use of explosives. Similarly, the next activity after waste stripping, is ore
extraction which in most cases requires the use of explosives. Equipment such as drill rigs, explosive
trucks, trucks and shovels and belt conveyors are used for the purpose of mining ore and
transporting to the treatment plant or temporary stockpiling.

The next activity after ore extraction is metallurgy or mineral beneficiation. Here the beneficial
minerals are extracted and treated according to the customer needs. Avenues such as road, rail, air
and sea transportation are used to get beneficial minerals or metals to the customer. The tailings
from the treatment plant are preferably used as part of the land rehabilitation process together with
stripped overburden and topsoil. The latter is placed on top of the backfilled material as it contains
the necessary nutrients for revegetation.

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4. SURFACE MINING CHARACTERISTICS

Surface mining is a low-cost mining compared to underground mining if geology is favourable. Due
to this reason, low grade orebodies can be targeted cost effectively with surface mining subject to
depth limitation. The reason for this lies in the fact that it is relatively easier to mine large volumes
of ore at lower cost compared to underground mining. However, unlike underground mining, larger
volumes of waste have to be stripped to expose comparatively lower quantities of ore, related to
each other through stripping ratio.

One other desirable characteristic of surface mining is its safety record compared to underground
mining. Because of the possibility of seeing almost the entire operation from a single point, it is far
easier to control activities in surface mining and perhaps even identifying areas with potential
accident risks. Risk identification and control can enhance safety.

Due to its proximity to the surface, quick and relatively cheaper mine developments are feasible in
surface mining. Quick mine developments lead to early start of production and consequently quick
return on capital invested. However, the cost efficiency of surface mining drops with the increase in
the overburden that has to be stripped to expose the ore and consequently the depth of the
orebody. Because shafts are not used in surface mining, travelling distances and hence the cost
increases dramatically with depth. Similarly, the highland disturbances associated with this type of
mining and the resultant land rehabilitation can make surface mining unattractive in certain
circumstances.

It is possible to do selective mining and blending with open cast mining methods but slightly more
difficult and perhaps even near impossible in deep open pits. However, surface mining overall pose
lower risk compared to underground mining in the sense that when for some reason the business
fails, equipment can be sold far easier than underground equipment which tends to be more
specialised than surface mining equipment. In addition, there are more surface mines globally than
underground mines and hence more market for second hand equipment and expertise.

5. SURFACE MINING LIMITATIONS

As mentioned earlier, efficiency drops with increase in mining depth and this puts limits to surface
mining. Increase in depth in most cases is correlated to increase in stripping ratio and mining cost. As
mining depth increases, the slope stability threat also increases and hence the need to invest in
slope monitoring technology. Slope failure can increase dilution beyond economic limit and even
threaten the viability of the mine.

Due to migration nature of open cast methods and the need for dumping space, surface ownership
rights can affect final pit limits and therefore quantity of mineable reserves. The weather can also
impact on the mining plan, for example in certain regions mining is either done in winter or in
summer only while other regions rains can halt mining for a considerable period.