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open-pit mining
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open-pit mining Kitwe: open-pit copper mine Aerial view of the Argyle Diamond Mine open pit in Western Australia, showing terraced, stepped layers of earth surrounded by sparse vegetation. Terraced walls of an opencast gold and silver mine in Waihi, North Island, New Zealand, with green hills and scattered buildings in the background. Bisbee: Lavender Pit Open-pit mine, Cobar, N.S.W., Austl. New Caledonia: open-pit nickel mine
Follow copper from green rock in open-pit mines to smelting, conversion, and refining into anode plates
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open-pit mining
open-pit mining Open-pit mining at Thetford Mines, Quebec, Can.

open-pit mining

Also known as: opencast mining, opencut mining
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History

open-pit mining, surface mining (q.v.) to obtain minerals other than coal.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.