open-cut

American  

[oh-puhn-kuht] / ˈoʊ pənˌkʌt /

adjective

Mining.

1. noting or pertaining to a type of surface mining in which coal and other flat-lying mineral deposits are removed by the excavation of long, narrow trenches.

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open cut British  

noun

1. civil engineering an excavation made in the open rather than in a tunnel See cut-and-cover

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Etymology

Origin of open-cut

First recorded in 1880–85

Example Sentences

Minister Plibersek's department agreed, finding sediment and run off from the open-cut mine was likely to damage the Reef and local water resources.

From BBC • Feb. 8, 2023

But in the 1970s, new technology, including bigger dump trucks, made open-cut mining more competitive.

From Washington Post • Nov. 11, 2021

The term solastalgia was coined by the philosopher Glenn Albrecht in 2005 to address feelings of shock in Australia after large open-cut coalmining in New South Wales had transformed the Upper Hunter Valley.

From The Guardian • Oct. 15, 2020

Ore mined by an open-cut method was first shipped in 1925, and in the late 1930s mine owner Universal Insulation Co. merged with Zonolite co. and the mine adopted the Zonolite name.

From Washington Times • Dec. 1, 2019

Several concrete plants were installed at points along the open-cut section, and were moved from place to place, the same general arrangement being adopted as at the plants already described.

From Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Vol. LXVIII, Sept. 1910 The New York Tunnel Extension of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The Cross-Town Tunnels. Paper No. 1158 by Brace, James H.