When it comes to drilling holes for extraction, the size of the hole drilled can depend on various factors including the type of resource being extracted (petroleum or copper), the method of extraction, and the scale of the operation. However, there are general tendencies as follows:
1. Petroleum Drilling: The drilling of oil or gas wells can vary greatly in depth and diameter, but the initial hole sizes can be quite large, ranging from about 12 inches to 36 inches for the surface section. As the drilling progresses to deeper sections, the hole size typically decreases. For example, intermediate and production sections of the hole can narrow down to about 6 to 12 inches in diameter. The depth for oil wells can range from a few hundred meters to several kilometers below the Earth's surface.
2. Copper Mining: For copper mining, the situation can be different. Copper is typically mined using two main methods: open-pit mining and underground mining.
- Open-pit mining often involves drilling blast holes with diameters ranging from about 5 to 12 inches. These holes are filled with explosives and detonated to break the rock into smaller pieces that can be hauled away.
- Underground mining may involve drilling much smaller holes for blasting, or using tunneling methods to reach the ore, which may not even involve drilling holes in the traditional sense, but rather excavating tunnels and shafts.
Therefore, it is not accurate to compare the two directly as "larger" or "smaller" without considering the specific context of the drilling or mining activity. If comparing initial hole sizes, oil and gas drilling might start with a larger-diameter hole compared to typical blast holes in open-pit copper mining. However, the actual hole sizes can vary widely depending on the specific project and technology used, and other factors such as environmental regulations and economics also play a role in determining the approach and hole size.
Would drill holes be larger for petroleum or copper
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