Why are sulfide zinc ores usually mined underground?

Sulfide zinc ores are typically mined using underground methods because these ore bodies are generally located at a considerable depth beneath the Earth's surface.1

When an ore body is situated deep underground, the amount of waste rock that would need to be removed to uncover the deposit via open-pit mining becomes economically prohibitive. Consequently, underground techniques are employed to access these deeper deposits directly. While underground mining involves higher costs per ton of material extracted and more limited access compared to surface operations, it allows for the extraction of ore without the need to strip away large volumes of overlying waste material.21