Borehole Mining

    Borehole mining is used for surface and underground mining.  It can be used in open pit mining which is a kind of surface mining.  With borehole mining, a hole is drilled deep enough into the ground to reach whatever is going to be mined.  Then a long, tube-like tool is dropped into the hole.  This tube has places for water to be forced down the tube and places where the water can be pushed back up the tube.  The water is forced down this tube.  The stream of water breaks up the dirt and rock when it hits it.  The water combines with the dirt, rock, and minerals to make a combination called a slurry.  The slurry is pumped back up to the surface where it is put into a storage tank.  The water is drained and the ore is taken out of it.  From that time on, the ore is treated depending on what it will be used for. 
    The good thing about borehole mining is that it doesn’t wreck the environment like other kinds of mining do.  It costs less money than some mining does and can be easily moved from one place to another.  Also, borehole mining works in places that would be very dangerous to mine with other kinds of mining. 

Mined with Borehole mining:

• Sand

• Galena

• Uranium

• Coal

• Gold

• Diamonds