OVERBURDEN

Overburden

In mining and in archaeology, overburden is the material that lies above an area of economic or scientific interest. In mining, it is most commonly the rock, soil, and ecosystem that lies above a coal seam or ore body. Overburden is distinct from tailings, the material that remains after economically valuable components have been extracted from the generally finely milled ore. Overburden is removed during surface mining, but is typically not contaminated with toxic components and may be used to restore an exhausted mining site to a semblance of its appearance before mining began. Overburden may also be used as a term to describe all soil and ancillary material ...

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overburden

Noun

  1. The rock and subsoil that lies above a mineral deposit such as a coal seam.
  2. A sterile stratum that lies above the stratum being investigated

Verb

  1. To overload or overtax


The above text is a snippet from Wiktionary: overburden
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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