212  Mining (except Oil and Gas) 

Industries in the Mining (except Oil and Gas) subsector primarily
engage in mining, mine site development, and beneficiating (i.e,
preparing) metallic minerals and nonmetallic minerals, including coal.
The term "mining" is used in the broad sense to include ore
extraction, quarrying, and beneficiating (e.g., crushing, screening,
washing, sizing, concentrating, and flotation), customarily done at the
mine site. 

Beneficiation is the process whereby the extracted material is reduced
to particles which can be separated into mineral and waste, the former
suitable for further processing or direct use. The operations that take
place in beneficiation are primarily mechanical, such as grinding,
washing, magnetic separation, centrifugal separation, and so on. In
contrast, manufacturing operations primarily use chemical and
electrochemical processes, such as electrolysis, distillation, and so
on. However some treatments, such as heat treatments, take place in
both stages: the beneficiation and the manufacturing (i.e.,
smelting/refining) stages. The range of preparation activities varies
by mineral and the purity of any given ore deposit. While some
minerals, such as petroleum and natural gas, require little or no
preparation, others are washed and screened, while yet others, such as
gold and silver, can be transformed into bullion before leaving the
mine site. 

Establishments in the Mining (except Oil and Gas) subsector include
those that have complete responsibility for operating mines and
quarries (except oil and gas wells) and those that operate mines and
quarries (except oil and gas wells) for others on a contract or fee
basis. Establishments primarily engaged in providing support services,
on a contract or fee basis, required for the mining and quarrying of
minerals are classified in Subsector 213, Support Activities for
Mining.