Mining for materials has been a human occupation for as long as we have recorded history. Mining for significant energy resources such as coal and uranium is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. See the entry on Mines, Mining Hazards, and Mine Drainage , and Gregory (1980), for a general history of mining activities.
Much of our energy resources is mined from the surface (as opposed to deep mining). Once referred to as strip mining, these surface methods are now generally known as surface mining. Surface mines, open pit mines, and quarries differ in important ways. Surface mines are developed to mine a material (often coal) which lies in a narrow bed relatively close to the surface. The bed of material can be removed and the surface restored such that, if done properly, the site can resemble what it was prior to construction. Open pit mines are constructed to mine deep sources of ore which lie diffusely through rock strata. The material is removed and refined, but typically...
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Bibliography
Carlson, C. L., and Swisher, J. H. (eds), 1987. Innovative Approaches to Mined Land Reclamation. Carbondale, Ill.: Southern Illinois University Press, 752 pp.
Gregory, C. E., 1980, A Concise History of Mining. New York: Pergamon Press, 259 pp.
Schaller, F. W., and Sutton, P. (eds), 1978. Reclamation of Drastically Disturbed Lands. Madison, Wisc.: Am. Soc. Agron., Crop Sci. Soc. Am., Soil Sci. Soc. Am.
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© 1999 Kluwer Academic Publishers
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Cole, C.A. (1999). Surface mining, strip mining, quarries. In: Environmental Geology. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4494-1_318
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4494-1_318
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