area strip mining

Area strip mining is a method used to extract minerals, most commonly coal, from near-surface, flat-lying deposits. This technique involves removing the soil and rock (overburden) above the mineral seam.1

The process typically involves clearing vegetation, removing topsoil, drilling and blasting the overburden, extracting the mineral, and then reclaiming the land. Area mining progresses in a series of parallel trenches, or strips, where the overburden from one trench is placed into the void left by the previous one. This method is suitable for relatively thin, flat deposits.12

Historically, abandoned strip-mined sites resulted in barren landscapes. However, modern practices integrate land reclamation, which involves smoothing and revegetating the disturbed areas, often concurrently with mining operations.13