Mining is an economic activity of the primary sector represented by the exploitation or extraction of minerals that have accumulated in the soil and subsoil in the form of deposits. Mining is also considered as the set of individuals who are engaged in this activity or the set of mines of a nation or region.
There is a great variety of minerals to be exploited, there are metallic minerals, such as iron, copper, lead, gold, silver, chromium, mercury, aluminum, among others, which are used today as basic raw materials for the manufacture of all kinds of industrial products.
The non - metallic minerals like granite, marble, sand, clay, salt, mica, quartz, emerald, sapphire, etc.; They are used as construction materials and jewelry raw materials , among other uses. And those of greatest significance today are energy or fuel minerals, used mainly to generate energy, we have oil, natural gas, and coal or coal.
Mining is one of the oldest activities of mankind. In prehistoric times, man already used minerals to make his tools. Mining s lways has become one of the basic indicators of the potential for economic development of a country, the minerals discovered by man, it gives it an economic value outstanding usefulness because they provide to humanity.
Coal and iron were the raw materials that made the industrial revolution possible since the end of the 17th century , and even today they continue to constitute important mineral resources in many countries, despite the growing development of the exploitation of other metals and energy sources.
Among the countries whose economy relies heavily on mining are the United States, Russia, Great Britain, China, Mexico, Peru, Chile, South Africa, Ghana, Australia, among others.
Mining can be divided into four types: surface mining (open pit mining or other open excavations, including quarries), underground mining (gallery or tunnels), underwater mining or dredging, and mining through shafts. drilling (mainly to obtain fuel).
In all of them, the various steps or phases for the exploitation of minerals are carried out; which are exploration (location of deposits), extraction, processing (separate the specific mineral from a compound), transportation and exploitation (use the mineral in its specific use).
