Why Precision Surface Mining

During conventional drilling and blasting operations, there is no control over how the material fractures and the amount of mixing that occurs during the blast. In some mines / quarries this mixing would result in unacceptable product quality, and increase the cost per ton of the mined product to unacceptable levels.

The ability to exactly control the cutting surface is what makes continuous surface mining into precision mining.

Advantages of precision surface mining

There are several inherent advantages in precision surface mining that can be considered.

These include:

• The elimination of the use of explosives and primary crushing.
• The ability to precisely extract the ore from the waste, or ores of varying chemistry,
• Precision surface mining allows for production of a uniform material with a tight particle size distribution.
• Top-down cutting allows variation in product size, with fewer fines being generated that that obtained in the same material using drill and blast techniques. In addition, precision surface mining extends the useful life of a mine by extending mine
• Extends the useful life of a mine by extending mine boundaries
• Can expand production capacity in existing mines
• Particularly cost effective in Greenfield Startup Mines