Surface mining methods - are the procedures used to recover the coal found close to the surface or on the hillsides.
Auger mining recovers coal through the use of a large-diameter drill driven into a coalbed in the side of a surface mine pit. It usually follows contour surface mining, particularly when the overburden is too costly to excavate.
Area mining is practiced on relatively flat or gently rolling terrain and recovers coal by mining long strips successively; the material excavated from the strip being mined is deposited in the strip pit previously mined.