Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
opencast mining

opencast mining

5.7
A way of taking minerals like coal from a large open pit in the ground
  • noun
  • /ˈoʊpənˌkæst ˈmaɪnɪŋ/
  • UK
translation icon : minería a cielo abierto
  • The company switched from underground to opencast mining to reduce costs.

Examples

  • Strict regulations now govern opencast mining operations to minimize environmental damage.

  • Opencast mining has a significant impact on the landscape and surrounding ecosystems.

  • The opencast mining operation has increased local employment.

  • Many environmentalists oppose opencast mining due to its impact.

  • Opencast mining allows companies to extract minerals more efficiently from surface deposits.

  • The region's economy heavily relies on opencast mining for jobs and revenue.

  • Before starting opencast mining, the company must conduct an environmental impact assessment.

Synonyms

mining
vsopencast mining
191 2.7

Taking minerals like coal or metal from under the ground

is specific to large open pit operations near the surface
strip mining
vsopencast mining
  • Specialized
2 5.3

A way of removing soil and rock from land to get coal or minerals

focuses on large open pits rather than simple surface scraping

How Big

opencast mining
  • UK
5.7
quarry
55 4.9
borrow pit
  • Specialized
1 8.1
pit
230 3.6
hole
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

opencast mining singular
opencast minings plural

Morphology

opencast + mining

The noun phrase is directly compositional: 'opencast' denotes surface/open‑pit extraction and 'mining' denotes removing minerals, so their combination plainly refers to mining carried out in an open pit rather than underground. This straightforward, descriptive formation matches common cross‑linguistic patterns (e.g. 'surface mining') and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows the constituent words.

Etymology

Opencast mining comes from the simple image of digging a large open pit, a 'cast' in the ground, instead of working in dark underground tunnels. That's why the phrase means 'taking out coal or ore from a large open pit near the surface'.