Mining is the process of extracting solid, liquid and gaseous minerals from the bowels of the Earth using technical means [1] [2] . Mining refers to the primary sector of the economy .
The process of mining is the development of mineral deposits . During the development of deposits, mineral extraction is carried out and its transportation to places of further processing or useful use.
The term "Mining" is also used as an economic category . How an economic category is expressed in volumetric or weight units [2] :
- in cubic meters (mΒ³) as applied to natural gas , non-metallic building materials ;
- in tons (t) as applied to coal , oil , ores , non-metallic raw materials ;
- in mΒ³ / day in relation to industrial waters ;
- in carats for gemstones ;
- in kilograms (kg) in relation to semiprecious stones, gemstone raw materials , piezooptical raw materials ;
- in square meters (mΒ²) with respect to facing decorative stone.
Content
Mineral Extraction Methods
Mining has a long history. Throughout history, mankind has developed various methods of mining.
The extraction of solid minerals is carried out by the open pit method , underground method or a combined open-underground method . About 90% of brown coal , 20% of coal , 70% of ores of ferrous and non-ferrous metals are mined in an open way.
The production of liquid and gaseous minerals is carried out by drilling wells from the earth's surface through which they are pumped to special storage facilities.
The extraction of minerals that lie directly on the surface of the earth ( peat , non-metallic building materials and some others) is carried out from the surface with the full mechanization of the main production processes.
Beginning in the 1960s, mining of solid minerals ( gold , tin , diamonds , zircon , monazite , ilmenite , etc.), as well as oil and gas, began to develop.
The choice of the method of mining is determined by the geological conditions of the occurrence of minerals and is justified by technical and economic calculations.
The dynamics of world mining of the most important types of minerals
With the development of scientific and technological progress, the volume of mining and the number of species continuously increased. According to the calculations of Academician V. I. Vernadsky , made in 1915, only 19 elements were extracted and used by mankind in the ancient era , in the XVIII century - 28, in the XIX century - 50, at the beginning of the XX century - 60. Currently, 89 chemical elements contained in the earthβs crust [3] .
The growth rate of mining has steadily increased. Of the total volume of minerals extracted from the bowels of the earth throughout the history of mankind, the prevailing volume was extracted in the 20th century: oil - 99.5%, coal - 90%, iron ore - 87%, copper ore - 80%, gold - 70 % Search and development of new deposits covered almost the entire surface part of the earth's crust, including the coastal shelf and the bottom of the oceans [2] [3] .
Moreover, the structure of volumes of extraction of various minerals changes as scientific and technological progress develops. So, for example, in the period from the 1850s to the 1930s, coal dominated the total production, in the period from the 1940s to the 2000s, oil , and from the 2010s, natural gas (including and shale ). The dynamics of metal ore mining is also changing: for example, the share of iron ore in the total volume of production has been continuously decreasing since the beginning of the 1920s (although in gross terms it is preserved and is growing in certain periods), while the extraction of non-ferrous metals is increasing. The extraction of certain minerals, such as peat , has been declining in gross terms since the 1940s.
The possibility of recycling also affects the dynamics of the extraction of certain minerals. For example, the amount of scrap metal accumulated in the world by the beginning of the 1900s amounted to a significant part in the raw material component of metallurgy, and in the 2010s the share of scrap metal in the raw material base exceeds 40%. For some non-ferrous metals, such as lead, the share of scrap in the raw material component is even higher. The share of recycled materials in the production of plastics and glass products is constantly growing.
The value of some minerals with the development of technology is finally lost. For example, in the period from the 1830s to the 1970s, natural monocrystalline quartz was extracted in significant volumes as piezoelectric raw materials . With the development of technologies for the production of complex optical glasses, piezoceramics and the cultivation of artificial crystals, the value of natural quartz for optics and electronics has lost: in optics, it has been replaced by the best in characteristics of heavy glasses and synthetic crystals, and in electronics, piezoceramics, whose piezoelectric characteristics are several orders of magnitude better, than quartz. Therefore, at present, natural quartz is used only by jewelers. A similar situation occurred with varieties of corundum: with sapphire and ruby , as well as with diamonds - natural stones are used only in jewelry, while synthetic ones are used in the technique. It should be noted that the listed natural stones are rare and expensive, while their artificial production is a relatively cheap process that does not require scarce raw materials.
Notes
- β Mining and quarrying. TSB article
- β 1 2 3 Mining // Mineral Encyclopedia / Ch. editor E.A. Kozlovsky. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1986. - T. 2. - S. 234-235.
- β 1 2 Human Mining
See also
- Mining
- Mining
- Gold mining - training video