Surface Mining: Aqueous Extraction Methods

These flashcards cover the vocabulary and key conceptual classifications of aqueous extraction methods in surface mining, including placer mining, dredging, and solution mining techniques.

Aqueous extraction

All methods that employ water or liquid solvents to recover minerals from the earth or broken rock, utilizing both hydraulic action and chemical attack.

Placer mining

The recovery of heavy minerals from alluvial or placer deposits using water to excavate, transport, and or concentrate the mineral.

Solution mining

A category of mining methods used for the recovery of soluble or fusible minerals (or those easily slurried) by leaching, dissolution, melting, or slurrying processes.

Placer deposit

Any concentration of minerals that has been re-deposited in unconsolidated form by the action of a fluid, most commonly sand and gravel deposits deposited by water.

Hydraulic mining

A method where a high-pressure stream of water is directed against a bank to undercut and cave it, also known as water-jet cutting.

Hydraulic monitor

Also known as a giant, this is a nozzle designed to direct high-pressure hydraulic energy at a bank for disintegration.

Intelligiant

A specific hydraulic monitor design that utilizes curved sections of pipe to balance reactive forces, easing the anchoring and control of the nozzle during use.

Sluice

A natural trough in the ground or a metal or wooden box where loosened particles are washed and transported by gravity for concentration.

Dredging

The underwater excavation of a placer deposit usually carried out from a floating vessel, which may include processing and waste disposal facilities.

Mechanical dredges

Dredges that mechanically excavate and transport minerals, including dipper, bucket, and ladder dredges.

Hydraulic dredges

Also called suction dredges, these are designed to suck and transport minerals in slurry form using water as the transport medium.

Bucket-line dredge

A mechanical dredge used for extracting minerals from placers up to $50\,m$ in depth, featuring buckets that move continuously around a ladder.

Cutter-head suction dredge

A type of hydraulic dredge that uses a cutter-head to free placer material before it is sucked into a pipeline mounted on the dredge.

Borehole extraction

A solution mining system that utilizes wells to access mineral values by injecting water or a lixiviant to effect extraction via melting, leaching, dissolution, or slurrying.

Leaching

The chemical or bacteriological extraction of metals or minerals from the confines of a deposit or from material already mined.

In-situ leaching

A variation of leaching carried out on a mineral in its original place using boreholes or methods applied to ore broken in place.

Heap leaching

Also called dump leaching, this involves stacking metal-bearing ore on an impermeable pad and irrigating it with a chemical solution to dissolve minerals.

Lixiviant

A liquid solvent or chemical solution applied to ore to dissolve and extract the sought-after metal ions.

Pregnant solution

The leachant that has percolated through the ore heap and collected at the base, carrying the dissolved metal values.

Evaporite

A sedimentary deposit, such as halite, potash, or trona, composed primarily of minerals produced from a saline solution by evaporation in a closed basin.

Solar ponds

Large, shallow basins where saline solutions are pumped to allow water to evaporate using solar energy, causing minerals to concentrate and crystallize.

Mining Methods

Techniques used for extracting minerals from the earth, including surface mining, underground mining, and placer mining.

Surface Mining

A method of mining that involves removing the surface layers of soil and rock to access minerals located near the earth's surface.

Underground Mining

A mining method employed to extract deep-seated mineral resources located beneath the earth's surface.

Alluvial Deposits

Mineral deposits formed from the accumulation of sediments transported by water.

Concentration Techniques

Methods such as gravity separation, flotation, and magnetic separation used to increase the purity and quantity of desired minerals.

Mining Environmental Impact

The effects of mining activities on the surrounding environment, including habitat destruction, water contamination, and air pollution.

Mineral Processing

The treatment of extracted minerals to separate and concentrate valuable components.

Tailings

Waste materials left over after the extraction of valuable minerals, typically comprised of unwanted rock and processing chemicals.

Reclamation

The process of restoring and rehabilitating land that has been mined to make it usable for future purposes.

Process of Extraction

The series of methods and techniques used to retrieve minerals from the earth, including mining and processing.

Mineral Resources

Naturally occurring substances in the earth that can be extracted for economic use, including metals, non-metals, and energy sources.

Ore

A type of rock that contains sufficient minerals with economically important elements that can be extracted.

Metallurgy

The branch of science and technology concerned with the properties of metals and their production and purification.

Refining

The process of purifying an extracted mineral or metal to increase its value.

Bauxite

The principal ore of aluminum, consisting mainly of aluminum oxide and impurities.

Sulphide Mining

A method of mining associated with the extraction of metals from sulfide ores and requires specific processing methods.

Open-Pit Mining

A surface mining technique often used for minerals that are situated close to the surface and extracted by digging a large pit.

Sustainable Mining Practices

Methods of mining that aim to reduce environmental impact, promote resource efficiency, and ensure socio-economic benefits for local communities.

Mineral Exploration

The process of finding and assessing mineral resources in the earth.