Open pit mine is a specific mining technique that involves extracting minerals and rock from the earth by removing them from an open pit. This technique requires specific mining machines and is different from the extraction methods that involve digging tunnels into the earth. Open pit mines are most commonly used in coal mining and for hard-rock mining, like gold, iron, aluminum, metal ores, copper and other hard minerals. Usually, the open pit mines are preferred when an area is not suitable for digging tunnels into the earth with mining machines.
But have you ever seen how a open pit mine looks like? The fascinating look is a result of the waste extraction and the type of ore that is being extracted from the ground. Some mine pits exist for over a thousand of years and are still active, while some even feature a visitor center on-site for the tourists that come regularly. Read on to find out some of the most unique man-made mine pits in the world.
Hull-Rust-Mahoning – This man-made iron mine is located in Hibbing, Minnesota USA, and it is one of the largest open iron pit mines in the world. The Hull-Rust-Mahoning is 8 km long, 180 meters deep and 3.2 km wide. The origins of this pit mine date back to 1895. Over the years, this iron pit mine has become bigger and it required a larger area, so many houses and companies were moved away from the mine site. Since the first mining operation, more than 520 million tons of waste material and over 695 million tons of iron have been extracted from this pit mine. All the mining activities can be observed from a specific building next to the mine. Also, there is a slide presentation that explains the whole history of this mine and what types of mining machines are used.
Kalgoorlie – Kalgoorlie is one of the largest gold mines in Australia, and it is commonly referred as Super Pit. Built in 1989, the Kalgoorlie mine changed its owner few times. Today, it is owned by Avoca Resources Limited, and the production of gold per year varies. When it comes to its size, the Australian Super Pit is 3.5 km long, 320 meters deep and 1.5 km wide.
Bingham Canyon Mine – The deepest man-made mine pit in the world is the Bingham Canyon Mine. Built in 1906, this mine today is 1,2 km deep and 4,5 km wide. In terms of size, it is also the largest copper mine in America. It is generally used as a copper mine, but the Bingham Canyon extracts also other metals by using specific mining machines. More precisely, more than 600 tons of gold, 5,000 tons of silver and large amounts of platinum, molybdenum and palladium were extracted from the Bingham Canyon Mine pit. So, it is safe to say that the Bingham Canyon mine is one of the richest man- made mine pit in the world.
