The hammer and pick, two basic tools traditionally used in mining for breaking rock, together form a main heraldic symbol of mining and miners. It is also used to mark the location of mines on maps. In other locations, the pickaxe and shovel fill the same purpose
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to mining:
Surface mining, mining conducted down into the ground, but with the sky open above
Open-pit mining, where the overburden is removed and put in a different location, leaving a large pit at the end.
Strip mining, where the overburden is stripped off and placed onto the area where the mineral (usually coal) has already been mined out, allowing the surface to be returned to roughly how it was before
Mountaintop removal mining, where the overburden on a mountain is pushed off the mountain into the adjacent valley
