Mountain area: 3,500,000 m2
Average height of the mountain: 100 meters
A govt needs some area to build some stuff. I’m trying to figure out if it would be cheaper for them to remove a mountain (this area is owned by govt so its basically free real estate), or paying individual land owners ($15-20/m2).
Point of mountain removal is to make this place suitable for development (industrial area). So probably they don’t have to remove the entire mountain
This nearly 100% depends on how far the gravel/stones will have to move. You always will need several trucks per digger.
Best solution usually is to find a median level, tear down the mountain part above this level, and then use the material to fill up the surroundings to that median. Result: flat land, but maybe not at the level you initially thought.