Stone Mining Methods – Part 1 – Quarrying (Open-Pit Mining)

Stone can be mined in a variety of ways. The method of stone extraction depends on available technology and resources, geographic location, stone type, and the intended use of the extracted stone. We may however, separate the methods mainly into two as, surface and underground mining. In this series of posts, we will discuss various stone mining methods which will encompass several posts. The first one we discuss is Open-Pit Mining, which simply means Quarrying.

Quarrying (Open-Pit Mining):

This is the most common method of stone extraction. With this method, common stones used in buildings such as marble, granite, limestone and sandstone can be extracted. As the name implies, an open pit is dug on the surface of the ground where the stone is exposed. After this, the stone can be taken by blasting or cutting them into blocks. As the stone is removed, the pit gradually becomes wider and deeper. Although open pit mining is efficient way to remove large quantities of stone, it is not the best way regarding environmental concerns, because a large portion of the ground is disrupted.

Drill and Blasting: To blast the stone, first explosives must be inserted into the main rock body. This means, first, holes in adequate number and depth must be drilled into the rock body, where the explosives are placed. After explosion, the massive rock is broken into much smaller pieces, which can easily be processed for final use.

Cutting methods vary mainly as channeling and wire sawing.

In channeling, a special channeling machine cuts channels in the main rock body, which makes up the dimensions of a stone block of desired dimensions. After the channels are completely cut, the block can be removed from the main rock.

Wire sawing means, a wire that has diamond beads on it is moved back and forth in the main rock to precisely cut them. Remember that diamond is the hardest stone, which is the reason it is used.

A. Tuter

—-

Terms of use:

Copying or republishing of content of this website is not allowed without written permission from us. Note that we make dated records of our posts using several methods.

The content in this website may contain errors, inaccuracies or be incomplete and the site owner disclaims any liability as a result of its usage. Use at your own risk.

See Terms page for more details.