If the production life of the mine is pro ject as 20 years, then stage 4

environmental cost are $2.0-6.0 milion, plus closure cost. Total environmental
cots are thus estimated to be $3.8-11.9 million over the period of 32-35 years.
Assuming total ore production over life of the mine of 10 million tons (9 million
tonnes), then the unit cost for all environmental work can be estimated as $0,381.19/ton($0.42-1.32/tonne).
Early in its life, we also need to estimate roughly the capital investment cost to
develop a mine. A common practice is to base the cost on a unit capacity factor,
in $/annual ton (tonne) of production. These factor vary widely with the type of
mining, but the following ranges are commonly employed ( mine plant only )
Coal mines
Surface

$25-100/ton/year

(27-110/tonne/years)

Underground

60-125

(65-140)

Surface

50-150

(55-165/tonne/years)

Underground

75-200

(85-220)

Metal mines

For example, if a deep coal mine id desigined to produce 1.5 million ton/years
(1.4 million tonnes/year), the capital investment cost will range from about $90
million to $190 million a wide variation but helpful as quick estimate.
Estimated of overall development cost are also needed, and values provided in
table 1.3 may be helpful establishing the range of such costs. Over a period of 25 years, development cost can vary from $10 million to $250 million or more, for
a unit cost of $0.25-5/ton ($0.27-5.50/tonne)
3.6 Exploitation : General
Exploitation, stage 4 in the life of a mine, is not only the culmination of the three
stages that occur prior to it, but it is the end process by which the others are
economically justified. Without production of ore ( or coal or stone ) at
substantial, sustained rate, there can be no opportunity for a mining venture to
succeed, the mine is aborted or stillborn.
Exploitation is the work of recovering mineral from the earth in economic
amounts and delivering it to shipping or processing facilities on the surface.
While some exploration and development continue during stage 4, hta chief
objective of mine explitation is geared toward mineral production, In the
exploitation process, a number of extractive unit operation are employed, the
primary, one constituting the production cycle and the secondary ones the
auxiliary or support functions. We will examine these unit operation in detail in
Chapter 4.

Production openings excavated in the mineral deposittend to have names unique

to the type of mine and locale (surface or nderground) and to the commodity
mined (coal, metal. Or non-metal) in part because the kinds of mining have
evoloved with terminology distinctions the words over. On the surface, for
example, we excavate pits or cuts in all kinds of mineral deposits, but
underground we call production openigs rooms or longwalls in coal mines and
stopes in noncoal mines.
A review of selection 1.4 reminds us of the present predominance of surface
mining over underground insofar as tonnage output is concerned . What the
future holds is not clear, altrough the trend sience 1940s has been toward
surface mining (Pfleider, 1973a). That trend, however, has nearly levelled out
sience the early 1970s, and indications are that it may reverse. Certainly all the
signs favour a gradual resumption of underground mining , at lastet in the US
(e.g., deeper deposits becoming mere marginal). Nevertheless, that propercy has
proven erroneous before and thanks to massive, more efficient surface mining
machines, the trend back to underground mining may be postponed are the best
saved for latter chapters.
The methods chosen for exploitation distinguishes the final stage in the life of
mine selection of the mining method is the very crux of the exploitation process
and probably the key engineering decision made also in mine development. The
producedures presented for development earlier in this chapter now need to be
reviwed and expanded in view of exploitation objective and the procedure for the
choice of mining method fully explained.
3.7 Exploitation : mining methods
Methods slection
The cardinal rule of mine exploitation is to select a mining method that best
matches the unique characteristics ( natural, geologic, environmental, atc> of
the mineral deposits being mined, within the limits imposed by safety,
technology, and economics, to yield the lowest ost and return the maximum
profit. Let un now exmine the factors which govern method selection (Morrison
and Russel, 1973; Boshkovand Wright, 1973)
Factors in selection
1. Spatial characteristic of deposit. These factors are probably the most
important determinant, because the largely decide the choice of surface vs
underground mining and affect the production rate, the method of materials
handling and the layout of mine in the ore body