In a portion of the area, the oilsand deposits are so close to the surface they can be strip mined. The rest are too deep to be economically mined and can only be recovered using in-situ methods.
Surface oilsand mines can be seen on Google Maps. To get a sense of how large an area is being mined, compare some of the surface oilsands mines currently in operation to various places on MAPfrappe:
Related links:
Surface Mines
Mirny Diamond Mine, Russia (MAPfrappe) (Wikipedia)
Bingham Canyon Copper Mine, United States (MAPfrappe) (Wikipedia)
Carajás Iron Ore Mine, Brazil (MAPfrappe)
Asbest Asbestos Mine, Russia (MAPfrappe)
Diavik Diamond Mine, Canada (MAPfrappe) (Wikipedia)
Venetia Diamond Mine, South Africa (MAPfrappe) (Wikipedia)
Chuquicamata Copper Mine, Chile (MAPfrappe) (Wikipedia)
Chingola Copper Mine, Zambia (MAPfrappe) (Wikipedia)
Udachny Diamond Mine, Russia (MAPfrappe) (Wikipedia)
North Rhine-Westphalia Lignite Mines, Germany (MAPfrappe) (Wikipedia)
Athabasca Oil Sands Mines, Canada (MAPfrappe) (Wikipedia)
Hydro dams and their reservoirs
Hoover Dam and Lake Mead, United States (MAPfrappe) (Wikipedia)
Fort Peck Dam, United States (MAPfrappe) (Wikipedia)
Akosombo Dam and Lake Volta, Ghana (MAPfrappe) (Wikipedia)
Churchill Dam and the Smallwood Reservoir, Canada (MAPfrappe) (Wikipedia)
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