Strip mining

[nachoman]

A strip coal mine? Basically, the overlying rock (called overburden) is dug up and temporarily hauled away so that the coal seam can be accessed. Common when the coal seam is relatively horizontal and not very deep. The mine itself would be HUGE, and not easily modeled. You could model just the loading facility, which would look similar to that of an underground mine. To set it apart from an underground mine, you could depict the edges of the overburden piles. The digging and hauling machinery at Arizona's Kayenta mine are HUGE:

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.peabodyenergy.com/Operations/CoalOperations-Southwest.asp">http://www.peabodyenergy.com/Operations ... thwest.asp</a><!-- m -->

and here is a nice basic summary of wyoming coal operations, (intended for students, ):

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.ccsd.k12.wy.us/mines/PR/Pr.html">http://www.ccsd.k12.wy.us/mines/PR/Pr.html</a><!-- m -->