Surface-mine (Verb)
Meaning
Extract (ore) from a strip-mine.
Classification
Verbs of eating and drinking.
Examples
- The mining company will surface-mine the land for iron ore and then restore the environment once the operation is complete.
- To surface-mine the site, the company must first clear all vegetation and topsoil.
- They began to surface-mine the area in search of copper deposits.
- The process to surface-mine coal involves blasting and excavating soil and rock to expose the seam.
- Environmental activists have long protested against surface-mining, citing the devastation it leaves on the ecosystem.