[Loughla]

3 acres, I'm assuming, is the issue. That's not really that big. It's actually really quite small.

The only open pit mine I'm familiar with is measured in the literal thousands of acres. Hell, the local gravel pit that supplies the VERY rural area I live in is over 70 acres.

[JacobDotVI]

I think this is part of that distinction. Likely a gravel pit would _not_ be considered "mineral mining" and so would be permitted at a size greater than 3 acres.