open pit
Exposed mining hole
Open pit describes a type of mining where minerals are extracted from a large, terraced hole in the earth's surface rather than through underground tunnels: open-pit mining, an open-pit copper mine.
The pit itself—a massive excavation that descends in stepped levels—is also called an open pit.
Also spelled open-pit when used as an adjective.
- mineOre excavation site
- strip miningRemoving overburden for minerals
- quarryPit for extracting rock
- excavationAct of unearthing
- stripNarrow elongated piece
surface · crater · ore · coal · copper · gold mine · dig · earthmoving · heavy equipment · dump truck · blast · blast zone · bedrock · terraced · gouge · scar · dust · massive
- clay pit terms
- mininggold, mines, gold mines, mine, coal
- excavationdig, excavation, excavating, excavator, digging
- pits
- US Mininggold mining, silver mining, copper mining, coal miner, iron mining
- emerald miningColombia, Zambia, Brazil, shaft, tunnel
spatial configuration
open pitunderground
Below ground or countercultural
subterranean · enclosed · covered · buried · subsurface
open, pit, opens, opened, opening, opener, openness, openly, reopen