Comment by AnIrishDuck

> the incentive to mine that particular area drops considerably, dropping the chance to discover potentially brand new materials that would have been found the normal way.

FWIW, I think the metaphor breaks down with this framing. This isn't really a problem associated with strip mining, what's left behind is generally low or negative value (toxic). I'd suggest a different metaphor, from Wikipedia:

> This process involves the removal of all ground vegetation in the area, which is a detriment to the environment.[19] Topsoil may be placed over the tailing along with planting trees and other vegetation. Another reclamation method involves filling in the hole with water to create an artificial lake. Large tailing piles left behind may contain heavy metals which can leach out acids such as lead and copper and enter into water systems.

This feels very similar to the issues with algorithmic problem "mining". It has the potential to destroy the human ecosystems surrounding these problems, leaving barren wasteland behind where nothing can grow or flourish.