 Huge trucks, shovels and cranes are employed in surface mining to move large quantities of overburden and ore.Processing plants utilize large crushers, mills, reactors, roasters and other equipment to consolidate the mineral-rich material and extract the desired compounds and metals from the ore.

Once the mineral is extracted, it is often then processed.The science of extractive metallurgy is a specialized area in the science of metallurgy that studies the extraction of valuable metals from their ores, especially through chemical or mechanical means.