PrintLesson 7.4: Aqueous Extraction Methods
We’ve examined surface mining from a very general perspective, and we’ve studied the class of mechanical surface mining methods. The other major class of surface mining methods is aqueous extraction. Aqueous extraction is distinguished from mechanical extraction by one characteristic: all of the aqueous methods depend on the use of water or another liquid to extract the ore, and often the water is used to aid in the gravity separation of the valuable mineral. We’ll look at three methods within this class of mining methods: Dredging, Hydraulic mining, and solution mining. These methods are important to the recovery of certain commodities, but their overall application is limited compared to mechanical extraction methods. Here in this lesson, we’ll simply introduce the basic concepts, and leave further study to advanced courses on surface mining.