The textbook consists of two parts. The first part deals with the underground working of mineral deposits. It covers the basic concepts and terms used in mining and treats on problems involved; in the opening-up of sheet and ore deposits, the methods employed in the working of coal and placer occurrences. It also describes the correct ways of selecting most suitable methods for mining a given ore deposit depending on the mining, geological and technical actors, and offers a technical and economic comparison of the possible systems. The second part is devoted to the opencast working of mineral deposits. It discusses the basic concepts, the mining terms, the choice of opencast methods of mining, the determination of the depth and production capacity of an openpit, the major operations involved in open work, the early development of deposits, the technical and economic characteristics of opencasting, dredging and hydraulicking in placer deposits, new ways an! d main problems in the exploitation of mineral bodies.
The text is meant for students of higher mining colleges and mining departments. It may also be useful for engineering and technical staff in the field.
The author, Professor Georgi Popov, Doctor of Technical Sciences, holds the Working of Mineral Deposits Chair at the Sergo Ordzonikidze Geological and Prospecting Institute in Moscow. The author's chief scientific activities are in the domain of the working of mineral deposits. Prof. Popov has spent more than 40 years working in the field. He is a member of the Mining Section of the USSR Academic Council and of the Committee for Lenin and State Prized. He is the author of over 50 published works, including a number of research reports, manuals and textbooks on mining.
