Area strip mining

Area mining is normally carried out on flat terrain. It starts with a trench in the overburden to expose part of the coal seam. The trench is extended to the boundary limit in the strike direction.

After coal removal, a second cut is made parallel to the first one, and the overburden material from this cut is placed in the void of the first cut. The process is repeated in successive parallel cuts until continued surface mining is uneconomical.