{ "slug": "mining", "name": "Mining and quarrying", "sector": "mining", "summary": "Mines extract useful material from deposits and separate it from waste. Geology, grade, recovery, access, processing capacity, and closure obligations determine whether a deposit becomes a viable business.", "scope": "Covers extraction and initial processing of metal ores and industrial minerals, including quarrying. Oil and gas extraction is a separate profile. Mining methods and permits vary by deposit and jurisdiction; environmental sources below include U.S. and regional guidance.", "aliases": [ "Mineral extraction", "Quarrying", "Metal mining" ], "segments": [ { "name": "Surface mines and quarries", "description": "Remove material accessible from the surface. Overburden, pit geometry, haul distance, and waste movement affect economics." }, { "name": "Underground mines", "description": "Access deeper deposits through shafts, declines, or other workings. Ground conditions, ventilation, and development constrain output." }, { "name": "Processing and concentration", "description": "Separates valuable material using a deposit-specific route. A mine may sell ore, concentrate, or a more refined product." } ], "flow": [ { "name": "Evaluate and develop", "description": "Characterize the deposit, test processing behavior, plan access and waste management, obtain approvals, and build infrastructure." }, { "name": "Extract and move", "description": "Drill, blast, cut, or otherwise recover material; separate ore from waste and transport it to stockpiles or processing." }, { "name": "Concentrate and recover", "description": "Crush, grind, sort, or use other appropriate separation processes. Recovery measures how much contained valuable material becomes product." }, { "name": "Sell and manage liabilities", "description": "Grade and ship product under customer terms while managing water, waste rock, tailings, rehabilitation, and eventual closure." } ], "economics": { "revenueUnit": "A tonne of ore or concentrate, or a unit of payable metal/mineral, adjusted for grade, impurities, treatment charges, and contract terms.", "payers": "Smelters, refiners, manufacturers, traders, and construction-material users. Contained metal is not always fully payable metal.", "costs": [ { "name": "Extraction and movement", "explanation": "Development, drilling, blasting, loading, haulage, and waste removal vary with depth, geometry, and ground conditions." }, { "name": "Processing and stewardship", "explanation": "Comminution, reagents, energy, water management, tailings storage, maintenance, and rehabilitation affect lifecycle economics." } ], "capital": "Access development, processing plants, power, water, transport, and waste facilities require investment before dependable revenue. A deposit can be valuable yet uneconomic to develop.", "workingCapital": "Ore stockpiles, product awaiting assay or shipment, spare parts, and customer settlement delays tie up cash. Development and closure spending are not captured by short-run production margins.", "mechanism": "Recovered output depends on tonnes processed, grade, and recovery. A fall in grade can require more rock, energy, and waste handling for the same product quantity. Throughput and recovery can also trade off, so maximizing tonnes alone may reduce value." }, "operations": { "activities": [ "Geological modeling and mine planning", "Extraction, maintenance, and process control", "Water, tailings, and rehabilitation management" ], "assets": [ "Mine workings and haulage equipment", "Processing plants and engineered waste facilities" ], "roles": [ "Geologists and mining engineers", "Metallurgists, operators, and environmental specialists" ], "records": [ "Assays, ore-control plans, and production surveys", "Processing balances, inspections, and waste-management records" ], "software": [ "Resource modeling and mine scheduling", "Fleet dispatch and process monitoring" ], "metrics": [ { "name": "Head grade", "definition": "Valuable material concentration in feed entering the process.", "why": "Shows how much potential product is carried by each tonne." }, { "name": "Recovery", "definition": "Recovered valuable material divided by valuable material in the feed.", "why": "Connects metallurgy to output; it is not the same as concentrate grade." }, { "name": "Stripping ratio", "definition": "Waste moved relative to ore mined, with units and basis stated.", "why": "Reveals a key surface-mining cost driver." } ] }, "structure": [ "A mineral resource estimate is not a promise of profitable production. Commodity prices, processing behavior, infrastructure, environmental obligations, and financing can change the economic boundary of a deposit.", "Mines are geographically fixed, while customers and prices may be global. Nearby infrastructure can transform project economics, but a larger plant cannot remove geological uncertainty. Production schedules also affect which grades are mined now and which remain for later years." ], "risks": [ { "risk": "Geological or recovery shortfall", "mechanism": "Actual ore quality or processing behavior differs from the plan, reducing saleable output or increasing cost." }, { "risk": "Safety and ground instability", "mechanism": "Ground failure, equipment incidents, or inadequate controls can harm workers and halt production." }, { "risk": "Water or tailings failure", "mechanism": "Waste facilities and drainage create long-lived environmental and safety obligations extending beyond the last sale." } ], "dependencies": { "upstream": [ { "slug": "electric-utilities", "label": "Electric utilities", "relationship": "Power processing and other mine systems." }, { "slug": "oil-gas", "label": "Oil and gas", "relationship": "Supply fuels used by mobile equipment and logistics." } ], "downstream": [ { "slug": "steel", "label": "Steel", "relationship": "Uses iron ore and other mineral inputs." }, { "slug": "cement", "label": "Cement", "relationship": "Uses limestone and other quarried materials." } ], "substitutes": [ { "label": "Recycled materials", "relationship": "Can replace some primary mineral demand, depending on collection, purity, product requirements, and recovery economics." } ] }, "workedExample": { "title": "Grade and recovery are separate levers", "assumptions": [ "Illustrative metal ore: 100,000 tonnes processed at 1% grade and 90% recovery.", "A second case has 0.8% grade at the same tonnes and recovery." ], "calculation": [ "First case: 100,000 × 0.01 × 0.90 = 900 tonnes recovered metal.", "Second case: 100,000 × 0.008 × 0.90 = 720 tonnes recovered metal." ], "takeaway": "The same processing throughput produces 20% less recovered metal. The calculation excludes payability, refining losses, and changes in cost." }, "scenario": { "change": "Ore hardness increases while the plant equipment is unchanged.", "effects": [ "Grinding may require more energy per tonne or processing throughput may fall.", "The mine must reconcile material delivery with the slower processing constraint.", "Blending or process changes can help, but recovery and product quality must be monitored alongside throughput." ], "watch": [ "Energy per tonne", "Plant throughput and recovery", "Stockpile quality and inventory" ] }, "misconceptions": [ { "claim": "A large deposit is automatically a profitable mine.", "correction": "Grade, recovery, access, costs, permissions, infrastructure, and closure obligations determine economic viability." } ], "sources": [ { "id": "usgs-extraction", "title": "How do we extract minerals?", "organization": "U.S. Geological Survey", "url": "https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/how-do-we-extract-minerals", "supports": "How deposit location, shape, strength, grade, cost, and price influence mining method." }, { "id": "epa-mining-review", "title": "EIA Technical Review Guidelines: Non-Metal and Metal Mining Volume I", "organization": "U.S. Environmental Protection Agency", "url": "https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2014-04/documents/miningvol1.pdf", "supports": "Mine lifecycle, processing, environmental impacts, and waste-management planning; 2011 technical guidance." }, { "id": "epa-waste", "title": "Report to Congress: Wastes from the Extraction and Beneficiation of Metallic Ores, Phosphate Rock, Asbestos, Overburden from Uranium Mining and Oil Shale", "organization": "U.S. Environmental Protection Agency", "url": "https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2016-03/documents/epa-530-sw-85-033.pdf", "supports": "Definitions and mechanisms of ore beneficiation, tailings, and extraction wastes; historical technical reference." } ], "evidence": { "scope": [ "usgs-extraction", "epa-mining-review" ], "flow": [ "epa-mining-review", "epa-waste" ], "economics": [ "usgs-extraction", "epa-mining-review" ], "operations": [ "epa-mining-review" ], "structure": [ "usgs-extraction" ], "risks": [ "epa-mining-review", "epa-waste" ] }, "relatedConcepts": [ "yield", "capital-intensity", "operating-leverage", "regulation-and-market-entry" ], "classification": [], "editorialNote": "Process descriptions draw on the cited primary sources. Business-model interpretation is editorial synthesis; worked-example figures are illustrative assumptions, not industry benchmarks. Regulation and commercial arrangements vary by jurisdiction.", "companies": { "selectionNote": "Illustrative mining companies spanning bulk commodities, precious metals, copper, and other industrial minerals across several regions. This is not a ranking by reserves, output, or revenue; shared ventures are not counted as additional companies.", "verifiedOn": "2026-10-26", "entries": [ { "name": "Antofagasta", "kind": "Company group", "segment": "Chilean copper mining", "description": "Operates copper mines in Chile, including Los Pelambres and Centinela. Its mining division connects ore extraction and processing with the infrastructure required to bring copper products to market.", "url": "https://www.antofagasta.co.uk/media/4905/49913-antofagasta-ar25-web-ready.pdf" }, { "name": "Barrick Mining Corporation", "kind": "Company", "segment": "Gold and copper mining", "description": "Operates gold and copper mining businesses across several countries, including joint ventures. Its portfolio connects mineral-resource development with mine operations, processing, and long-term investment decisions.", "url": "https://www.barrick.com/operations/" }, { "name": "BHP", "kind": "Company group", "segment": "Bulk commodities and copper", "description": "Produces iron ore, steelmaking coal, and copper through open-cut and underground operations. Its diversified assets connect different ore bodies and processing requirements with industrial commodity markets.", "url": "https://www.bhp.com/about/our-businesses" }, { "name": "CMOC Group", "kind": "Company group", "segment": "Copper, cobalt, and specialty minerals", "description": "Operates mining and processing businesses producing copper, cobalt, molybdenum, tungsten, niobium, and phosphates. Its geographic portfolio connects different mineral deposits with specialized extraction and processing capabilities.", "url": "https://en.cmoc.com/" }, { "name": "Freeport-McMoRan", "kind": "Company", "segment": "Copper mining and processing", "description": "Operates copper mines using routes including concentration, leaching, and solvent extraction with electrowinning. Its South American operations show how ore characteristics influence the form of copper sold.", "url": "https://www.fcx.com/operations/south-america" }, { "name": "Glencore", "kind": "Company group", "segment": "Mining and commodity marketing", "description": "Produces metals and minerals and also markets physical commodities. Its industrial and trading businesses connect extraction and processing assets with transport, customer requirements, and commodity markets.", "url": "https://www.glencore.com/what-we-do" }, { "name": "Newmont", "kind": "Company", "segment": "Gold and associated metals", "description": "Mines gold, copper, silver, and other metals through a portfolio of operations. Its business connects mineral exploration and reserve development with extraction, processing, and mine-lifecycle management.", "url": "https://www.newmont.com/about-us/about-mining/default.aspx" }, { "name": "Rio Tinto", "kind": "Company group", "segment": "Diversified mineral production", "description": "Produces commodities including iron ore, aluminium, copper, and lithium. Its portfolio connects mining and mineral processing with different industrial supply chains and the infrastructure each requires.", "url": "https://www.riotinto.com/en/products" }, { "name": "Southern Copper", "kind": "Subsidiary", "segment": "Integrated copper production", "description": "Grupo México-controlled producer with mining, smelting, and refining facilities in Peru and Mexico. Its operations connect ore extraction with concentrate production and further conversion into copper products.", "url": "https://southerncoppercorp.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/m2024.pdf" }, { "name": "Vale", "kind": "Company group", "segment": "Iron ore and base metals", "description": "Produces iron ore and pellets alongside copper and nickel, with associated logistics operations. Its business connects mineral extraction and processing with transport infrastructure and industrial customers.", "url": "https://vale.com/en/what-we-do" } ] }, "published": "2026-10-26", "canonical": "https://industrywiki.org/industry/mining/" }