open-pit

adjective

US
: involving the removal of the surface of a large area of land to get at a mineral or other material that is near to the surface
an open-pit mine

Examples of open-pit in a Sentence

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Covering 1,000 acres, the open-pit mine is more than 300 feet deep. Paul Rogers, Mercury News, 16 Apr. 2026 As part of the renewal process, Reuters reported, Barrick identified gold reserves that would support six years of open-pit mining and 16 years of underground mining. Preeti Jha, semafor.com, 16 Feb. 2026 In the distance, the expansive open-pit mine came into view, an immense landscape lined with massive tractors hauling gold-rich ore to the processing plant. Jill Newman, Robb Report, 1 Feb. 2026 Spanning over 60,000 acres, the Morenci copper mine in eastern Arizona — one of the largest-open-pit mines in the world — produces hundreds of millions of tons of copper ore each year. John Leos, AZCentral.com, 14 Nov. 2025 See All Example Sentences for open-pit

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Cite this Entry

“Open-pit.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/open-pit. Accessed 1 May. 2026.

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