Why An Underground Mine Might Be Better For Local Ecosystem Than A Surface Mine?

Underground mining is practical when: The ore body is too deep to mine profitably by open pit. The grades or quality of the ore body are high enough to cover costs. Underground mining has a lower ground footprint than open pit mining.

Open pit mining has far larger impacts on the environment than underground mining. Open pits are giant holes in the ground, while underground mines mostly impact what’s underground. For an open pit, vast amounts of rock with no value is removed, usually it’s about 3 to 10 times the amount of the ore that is processed.

In underground mines you generally remove as little rock to surface as you can avoid. Often the non-economic rock is dumped into underground stopes, as it makes more sense than bringing it to surface.

Both types of mining are necessary for your modern society to exist the way it does. Most copper produced in the world comes from open pit mines. Without abundant copper, everything electric or electronic in our lives would be gone.