Open-pit mining is a surface mining technique to identify and remove rocks or minerals from the earth from an open-air pit that is dug, increasingly deeper, into the earth. This is a useful technique when the desired mineral is near the surface, otherwise underground mining is required.

The Bingham Canyon mine in Utah is a great example of the impact of open pit mining. 1903, the Utah Copper Company was created to mine and process porphyry copper ore found near Salt Lake City. The proprietors were warned that this would be a losing venture. But they were wrong, and the resulting success was based on the owner’s decision to use open-pit mining, steam shovels and the railroad to manage the job.” Today, the mine is the largest man-made excavation and the deepest open-pit mine in the world. It also has proven to be one of the world’s most productive mines.

Over a century, the Bingham Canyon mine expanded to a depth of 0.75 miles and a width at the top of more than 2.75 miles. Today, the railroad has been replaced with large capacity hauling trucks and the mine produces about 100,000 tons a year of copper, along with molybdenum, gold and silver. Technology plays a role in daily processing, not only in terms of the mining itself but in managing distribution and delivery of materials to processing plants. And, in terms of safety, geotechnical monitoring equipment including ground probes and radar predicted a land slide on one wall far enough in advance to safely evacuate all workers and equipment from the area before the slide took place.

After an open pit mine is depleted, the land usually undergoes land rehabilitation and the land is resurfaced with materials to help restore the soil to a neutral state, and plants are introduced to help with runoff and to consolidate the material below.

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• Tracking 150 Years of Mining Engineering

Mining and geological engineering are employed by government agencies globally to evaluate, plan, and oversee the extraction of minerals and other items from the earth. They are also employed by engineering service firms, and companies that focus on mining specific materials such as metals or coal.

Mining engineers often are employed at the location of natural deposits, often near small communities. Those in research and development, management, consulting, or sales, however, often are located in metropolitan areas.

The following is just a sample of some companies, in addition to government agencies, which employ mining and geological engineers:

• Alamos Gold Inc.
• BHP Group
• Coal India
• Fluor
• Glencore
• Kennecott Utah Copper
• Newmont Mining Corp
• Norilsk Nickel
• Stantec
• US Department of the Interior
• S. Geological Survey

For most engineering careers:

• a bachelor’s degree is required

  

• a master’s degree may be recommended for those specializing or interested in management
• students may also start with a related associate degree and then move on to a bachelor’s when they have settled on a degree path.
• many students are required to participate in a co-op program while at university to gain real world experience in their chosen field.
• education doesn’t really stop…engineers need to stay current as technology changes and materials and processes improve over time.
• many professional societies offer certificates and coursework to support continuing education for their members.

At the undergraduate level, mining engineering students will take courses such as introduction to mining safety, structural geology, and geology for engineers. They will likely also take courses on sensors and technology related to mining, as well as  in material handling, physical mineralogy and petrology, surface mining methods and equipment, principles of explosives engineering, mine management, and environmental aspects of mining.

It is important to select an engineering degree that has been accredited to meet basic standards. Find out more and browse TryEngineering’s global database of accredited engineering and computing programs.