At the present stage of development of the mining industry, the most used method of extracting valuable minerals has become unique open mines, or, more simply, quarries.
But there is one feature in this method, it is used in cases where fossils are not far from the surface of the earth. But with this method of development, incredibly huge and fascinating developments are obtained. These are the biggest careers we will present in a short review. We also note that this is one of the most effective and cheap methods of mining.
Escondida Copper Mine. Chile
Among the vast expanses of the Chilean Atacama Desert, two handsome careers have formed, forming a single copper mine of Escondin. They have their own names - Pete and North.
Copper mining began in 1990, and today it produces the most copper than in similar developments in the world. Over many years of development, it was possible to descend to a depth of 645 meters.
In addition, it is one of the highest quarries located above sea level at an altitude of more than 3 thousand meters. In the extraction of copper involved 6 thousand workers.
Diamond Mine Successful. Russia
Udachny is located in Russia and has specialized in diamond mining since 1955. Today, its capacity is almost 4 million ore per year.
In 2014, the open-pit mining method was partially curtailed, and an underground mine began operating in the kimberlite pipe of Eastern Siberia. Open-cast mining at Udachny stopped at 604 meters, which makes it one of the deepest quarries in Russia.
It is interesting to note that in 2013, Russia's deepest quarry gave the world a diamond of 320.65 carats in size. The unique find was named in honor of the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin. We learned that the next administration of the mine plans to name TheBiggest.ru, in honor of our site. (Joke)
Chukikamata copper quarry. Chile
In the central part of the Andes in 1915, the extraction of copper ore began. And today Chukikamata is the largest quarry in the world in which copper is mined.
In terms of size, it is truly a champion, but in terms of output, it lost the first place to its brother Escondida. This technological miracle is the largest in the world in size, and the dizzying depth of the Chilean crater is 850 meters.
A project has already been developed for the transition to underground mining, where, according to experts, about 2 million tons of ore remain in the ground.
Grasberg deposit. Indonesia
From space and a bird's-eye view, this huge quarry, high in the mountains of the Indonesian province of Papua, looks like a magnificent bowl. High in the mountains, gold and copper are mined in it, and 20,000 people are employed in various jobs.
In recent decades, American companies began to actively invest in gold mining projects around the world, including by purchasing Grasberg shares.
But the Indonesian government managed to retain a little more than 9% of the total stake.
The depth of the gold mining field with copper tide is 550 meters.
Mahoning Mine. USA
The uniqueness of this mining facility, spread among the open spaces of the US state of Minnesota, is that it first began mining iron ore in underground mines, and then came to the surface.
As a result of the work, a huge quarry of irregular oval shape was formed, the length of which is 8 kilometers and a width of more than 3 kilometers. At a relatively shallow depth of 108 meters, machinery and more than a thousand workers work. Most of the iron ore produced at the mine is shipped to US beneficiation plants.
Speaking of technology ... More recently, we have published an interesting article about very large mining excavators. We strongly recommend that you look at these wonders of engineering that work on development every day.
The Americans proudly call the Minnesota mine the “Northern Grand Canyon,” and more recently, it has been recognized as the state’s national man-made monument.
Diamond quarry Dyavik. Canada
The kimberlite pipe Dyavik is located in Canada, and it was opened in 2003. Today, Canadian mining is the largest mine in the world for the extraction of valuable diamonds.
Production volumes are simply amazing - more than 9 million carats of diamonds per year. The unique deposit is located among the most picturesque landscapes of the Canadian island of Lac de Grasse, and the width of the quarry today has already exceeded 7 kilometers.
Like all other deposits where there is an output of diamond and uranium ores, it has a complex geological structure. For development, the latest technologies are used to avoid losses and prevent the destruction of the natural landscape.
Diamond quarry Kimberly. South Africa
Undoubtedly, South Africa is the leader in diamond mining, and it is here that the holes in the Earth, from which valuable pebbles are mined, are most. Such unique holes include the Kimberley quarry, whose dimensions are simply impressive, because they dug it without the use of special equipment.
The "big hole", as Europeans call it, covers an area of 17 hectares, and its depth at the time of work was 240 meters. In the period from 1866 to 1914, about 50 thousand diggers dug a quarry only with the help of picks and shovels.
In this case, from the bowels of the land of South Africa, 2722 kilograms of amazing diamonds were mined in this place, scattered around the world after processing in the form of magnificent diamonds.
TheBiggest already wrote about the largest diamonds in the world, you can take a look at these amazing stones.
Super Quarry Kalgoorlie. Australia
Australia did not stand aside from opencast gold mining. As a result, a huge mine was formed, which the Australians simply call the "Big Pit."
Many tourists who visit the green continent try to get here to see the significance of human victory over nature, because the depth of production is 325 meters, which cannot but surprise.
When working to great depths, more than one thousand workers and the most modern mining equipment sink. Each year, these brave and courageous people mine about 850 ounces of gold per year.
Diamond Mine World. Russia
In Yakutia, in the pristine outback of Russia, there is the largest diamond quarry in the world, for all the years of its operation from 1955 to 2001 more than 350 cubic meters of rock were exported.
At the end of the 19th century, this place became a cult place for diamond seekers and adventurers, when in 1871, a diamond weighing 85 carats was discovered in the bowels of Eastern Siberia.
Everything mined was immediately processed at ALROSA, Russia's largest mining and processing plant. And today it is the largest diamond quarry, the production of rocks on which occurred without the use of explosives.
Bingham Canyon. USA
The ore deposit in the US state of Utah, where the British holding Rio Tinto is working, is currently the deepest quarry, the depth of which reaches 1.2 kilometers.
The largest anthropogenic education serves 64 dump trucks, and in total more than 1,500 people work on it. The uniqueness is that it was opened in 1848, in the middle of the twentieth century it was given the status of a national historical monument in the United States.
The width of this giant is 4 kilometers. In terms of size, it is the largest quarry in the world, and in terms of the duration of copper ore mining, it is also the oldest.
Ruskeala. Russia
One cannot open open pits in the world about the beautiful place of Karelia - the rutting complex “Ruskeala”, the pride of which is considered to be the largest marble quarry.
Once marble was actively mined here, but after the cessation of work, water completely filled the crater of the mine. Passing a natural purification, the water seems crystal clear, which gives the feeling that the bottom is very close. But the bottom is more than 50 meters.
The uniqueness of the monument also lies in the fact that its walls are penetrated by adits, horizontal drifts. Thousands of tourists come to see the magnificent harmony of nature and the work of human hands.
Interesting Facts
For a complete picture, we mention a few interesting facts related to career development:
- At the very end of 2014, a stone containing 30,000 diamonds was investigated on the Russian Udachny. It is noteworthy that this is millions of times higher than their usual concentration in the rocks.
- in 2013, the deepest quarry in the world, the Bingham Canyon suffered a tremendous catastrophe when tons of land rushed down. As a result of the landslide, work was suspended, infrastructure and equipment were destroyed, but the number of victims was classified.
- large careers, majestic and bewitching, located in different parts of the world, many experts, adventure lovers and connoisseurs of beauty attribute to the anthropogenic wonders of the world, putting them on a par with the pyramids of Egypt and the mausoleum in Halicarnassus.
- At Mirny’s diamond mining, the legend goes that God, flying over Siberia, frostbitten his hands and dropped a bag of precious stones, which strewn the forests and mountains of this wonderful land in bulk.
- in a quarry near the Russian village of Koenga, where majestic white marble is mined, according to geologists, marble is enough for 350 years, since mountain deposits have been formed over millions of years and lie to a depth of 130 meters.
The deepest careers presented are striking in their scale and the power of human thought, capable of mastering such a complex, high-tech mining process.
In conclusion, it is worth noting that these huge anthropogenic craters can be seen from space, like non-healing wounds on the long-suffering body of our mother Earth. But without these developments, mankind would not have received the most valuable minerals that are necessary in the industry and human life.