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

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The windfall came with an obligation for a widescale environmental cleanup after the site was used as an open-pit sand mine for more than 60 years. Phil Diehl, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Jan. 2025 Copper is largely extracted from open-pit mines, which, like the gold mine in the social media post, can be enormous. Kate S. Petersen, USA TODAY, 1 Dec. 2024 An open-pit vermiculite mine, which operated from 1963 to 1990, coated the area — and residents’ lungs — with needle-like asbestos fibers. Peter Elkind, ProPublica, 13 Nov. 2024 Current methods rely on open-pit mining or the months-long process of evaporating water in gigantic ponds. Daniel Moore, Axios, 31 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for open-pit 

Dictionary Entries Near open-pit

Cite this Entry

“Open-pit.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/open-pit. Accessed 5 Feb. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!