Top 10 Most Popular Open Pit Mines in the World

Open pit mining, also called open cut mining or opencast mining, is actually a type fo surface technique in which the minerals are extracted from the earth. This is done by removing a rock fron a borrow. The procedure is done under the supervision of experts. Let us see the top 10 most popular open pit mines in the world.

10. Kalgoorlie Super Pit, Australia 

Kalgoorlie Super Pit is Australia’s largest open cut gold mine. Its shape is oblong, and the length is around 3.5 km. The width of this mine is 1.5 km, and depth is around 560 meters. The mine has enough space to see inside with that high length.

9. Diavik Diamond Mine, Canada

Diavik Diamond Mine is in Canada. More than 600 workers and engineers are employed to get diamond from here. The total production of diamond of this mine is 14,00 kg per year. It is situated on a small 20 square km island, around 210 km  from the Arctic Circle.

8. Udachnaya Diamond Mine, Russia

The Udachnaya is another diamond mine. It is one of the largest mines of Russia, situated in the northeast part of the country. The mine has around 225.8 million carats of diamond reserves, and its annual production capacity is 10 million carats.

7. Escondida, Chile 

Escondida is a copper mine. It is found in the Atacama Desert, Antofagasta Region, Chile. It has two open pit mines, and the construction was started in 1990. Nowadays, this mine has the capacity of producing over 1 million tons of copper annually.

6. Chuquicamata (Chuqui), Chile 

This is one of the biggest open pit copper mines in the world in terms of its volume. The approximate depth of this mine is 2,190 ft. It is situated in Chile.

5. Ekati Diamond Mine, Canada 

Ekati Diamond Mine is Canada’s first surface mine. It is situated 310 km in the north of Yelloknife, Northwest Territories of Canada, and about 200 km south of the Arctic circle.

4. Grasberg Mine, Indonesia 

This is one of the major gold mines in the world. It not only has reserves of gold, but also of copper. The mine was first opened in 1973. Now it has over 19,000 workers and expert engineers.

3. Mirny Mine, Siberia

Mirny Mine is a diamond mine of Siberia. Its depth is arounf 1,722 ft, and the diameter is 3,700 ft. The airspace above the mine is closed for helicopters.

2. Bingham Canyon Mine, United States

The Bingham Canyon Mine, also known as the Kennecott Copper Mine, is an open-pit mine of USA. It is situated in southwest of Salt Lake City, Utah. Its depth is around 0.6 miles, and width is 2.4 miles.

1. The Big Hole (Kimberley Mine), South Africa 

This open pit mine is situated in Kimberley, South Africa. It was open in 1871 and closed in 1914. It had the production capacity of 3 million tons of diamonds, and 4 million tons of copper. It is 463 m wide, and the depth is around 239 m.

Have you seen any of these mines ever during a tour? If yes, then share your experience of the place with us. What you enjoyed the most there, and what you learnt?