Haulback is a surface mining technique used primarily in steep terrain. Instead of pushing overburden down the mountainside, the waste rock is loaded into trucks and hauled back along the bench to fill the pit left by the previous cut. This method drastically reduces the environmental footprint, minimizes erosion, and allows for concurrent reclamation of the hillside.
Heard on the job
We're using a haulback sequence on this ridge to keep the spoil out of the watershed below.