Question

Explain how hard rock mining works

Answer 1

Hard rock mining requires removing ore from other substances such as quartz. Ores have different qualities and impurities depending on how they were formed. Often gold occurs as veins in quartz, which is mined as rocks from within a mine. This requires special machinery and often requires the skills of a geologist

Answer 2

Hard Rock mining works when a narrow horizontal vein orebody will be mined by room and pillar or a longwall method whereas a vertical narrow vein orebody will be mined by an open stoping or cut and fill method. However, there are further consideration needed for the strength of the ore as well as the surrounding rock. In addition an orebody hosted in strong self-supporting rock may be mined by an open stoping method while an orebody hosted in poor rock may need to be mined by a cut and fill method were the void is continuosly filled as the ore is removed.