The life cycle of mining begins with exploration, continues through production, and ends with closure and postmining land use. New technologies can benefit the mining industry and consumers in all stages of this life cycle. This report does not include downstream processing, such as smelting of mineral concentrates or refining of metals. The discussion is limited to the technologies that affect steps leading to the sale of the first commercial product after extraction.

The three major components of mining (exploration, mining, and processing) overlap somewhat. After a mineral deposit has been identified through exploration, the industry must make a considerable investment in mine development before production begins. Further exploration near the deposit and further development drilling within the deposit are done while the mining is ongoing. Comminution (i.e., the breaking of rock to facilitate the separation of ore minerals from waste) combines blasting (a unit process of mining) with crushing and grinding (processing steps). In-situ mining, which is treated under a separate heading in this chapter, is a special case that combines aspects of mining and processing but does not require the excavation, comminution, and waste disposal steps. The major components can also be combined innovatively, such as when in-situ leaching of copper is undertaken after conventional mining has rubblized ore in underground block-caving operations.

Modern mineral exploration has been driven largely by technology. Many mineral discoveries since the 1950s can be attributed to geophysical and geochemical technologies developed by both industry and government. Even though industrial investment in in-house exploration research and development in the United States decreased during the 1990s, new technologies, such as tomographic imaging (developed by the medical community) and GPS (developed by the defense community), were newly applied to mineral exploration. Research in basic geological sciences, geophysical and geochemical methods, and drilling technologies could improve the effectiveness and productivity of mineral exploration. These fields sometimes overlap, and developments in one area are likely to cross-fertilize research and development in other areas.

Underlying physical and chemical processes of formation are common to many metallic and nonmetallic ore deposits. A good deal of data is