64 | www.resourceworld.

com summer 2005

ADIT: A tunnel driven into the side of a mountain to explore for
or access a mineral deposit.
AIRBORNE MAGNETOMETER: A device to measure variations in
the earths magnetic eld while being transported by an aircraft.
ANOMALY: Not an ore deposit, but a statistical abnormality
encountered during geochemical and/or geophysical exploration.
An anomaly provides a target for further exploration, in
particular, drilling.
ASSAY: An evaluation of a rock or soil sample for metal values.
BASE METAL: Metals such as lead, zinc, and copper.
BEDROCK: The solid rock, comprising the crust of the earth
upon which lies overburden in the form of soil, pebbles, gravels,
water, etc.
BENEFICIATE: The treating of ore which results in a more
concentrated form of the product.
CLAIM: An area of land or water which carries the mineral rights
and must be recorded in a government claim recording ofce.
CONCENTRATE: The resulting product after treating ore in a mill
to remove much of the waste prior to shipment to a smelter.
CORE: The resulting test sample from a diamond drill. Drill core is
often cut in half lengthways with one-half assayed and the other
half saved for future study.
CROSSCUT: A horizontal underground tunnel driven from a shaft
or drift toward an orebody or vein and cuts across the direction
of the orebody.
DEPLETION: When an orebody is mined,
it is depleted.
DILUTION: The lowering of the grade of
an orebody being mined by the addition
of lower grade or waste rock to the
mill feed.
DRIFT: A horizontal underground opening
driven alongside or through an orebody
to gain access to the mineral deposit.
DRILL: There are various types of drills
for exploration such as a diamond drill
(produces core) or reverse circulation drill
(produces chips). Other types of drills are
used for the mining process which do not
produce a core, but are used to make
circular holes in the rock which are lled
with explosives.
DYKE: (or dike): A tabular body of igneous
rock that cuts across the structure of
adjacent rocks.
ELECTROLYTIC: Part of the rening
process in which the product from the
smelter is rened using an electrolytic process to purify the
metal. The metal being rened forms the positive anode and is
deposited on the cathode by an electric current.
FAULT: A crack or break in the bedrock of the earth where one
side has slipped in relation to the other.
FLOTATION: A separation process used in milling ore in which
the valuable minerals cling to bubbles and oat to the surface
while others sink.
GEOPHYSICS: The use of geophysical techniques to search
for mineral deposits. Common geophysical surveys include:
magnetic, electromagnetic, induced polarization, resistivity
and gravity.
GLORY HOLE: A colloquial term for a pit or large hole made from
surface to mine a mineral deposit.
GOSSAN: A rusty-coloured rock outcrop that can be a good
indication of mineralization. The rust is caused by iron in
the rocks oxidizing. A common copper mineral, chalcopyrite,
(CuFeS
2
) oxidizes to a rusty surface.
GRAB SAMPLE: A randomly selected sample of rock to be
assayed. A grab sample will not provide a representative picture
of the value of a deposit, only an indication.
GRADE: The value of a mineralized deposit. Precious metals are
usually expressed as ounces per ton or grams per tonne. Base
metals and uranium are expressed as a percent. Diamond values
are expressed as value/carat/hundred tonnes.
IGNEOUS ROCK: A rock that has solidied from molten material.
(eg. granite)
KIMBERLITE: The host rock of diamonds.
Diamonds are not formed in kimberlite.
The kimberlite only acts as a medium
of transport to carry the diamonds up
toward the surface. The diamonds that
survive the voyage to the surface are in
what is called the diamond stability eld.
Diamonds are also found in lamproites.
LEVEL: An underground mining term
denoting a horizontal tunnel leading
away from the shaft. Levels are usually at
regular intervals of depth.
MATTE: The metal-bearing product from
the smelter that is sent to the renery.
METAMORPHIC ROCK: A rock that has
been formed from igneous or sedimentary
rock. (eg. sandstone becomes quartzite)
MILL: The plant which concentrates the
raw ore by separating the waste from the
valuable metals. The concentrate from
the mill is sent to a smelter.
Glossary of Mining Terms
Using a drill bit studded with industrial
diamonds, a diamond drill extracts a core
of rock from a drill target.
Photo by Ellsworth Dickson
MUCK: A slang term for broken rock
or ore.
MUCKING MACHINE: An underground
vehicle on tracks, powered by compressed
air that scoops up blasted and broken ore
and tosses it over itself into an ore car
on tracks.
OUTCROP: Bedrock which is exposed on
the surface of the earth.
OVERBURDEN: The sand, gravel, peat,
soil, swamp, water, etc., which lies on top
of bedrock.
PILOT PLANT: A small-scale mill set up
on the mine property to test recovery
techniques before building a large mill.
PLACER: An alluvial deposit of gold or
other metals which are contained in a
sand or gravel bar in a river or beach,
present or former. The grains, akes and nuggets were eroded
from bedrock, or lode deposits and washed down to the stream,
beach, etc.
PRECAMBRIAN SHIELD: A U-shaped area surrounding Hudson
Bay consisting of older rocks of the Precambrian age. The Shield
contains many areas of mineralization, some of which have
become producing mines.
PROSPECT: A geologically favourable area for minerals to occur.
RAISE: An underground tunnel that has been driven upwards,
either at an incline or vertically.
RECOVERY: The amount of mineral in ore that is separated and
recovered in a mill usually expressed as a percentage per tonne
of ore treated.
REFINING: The nal purication process of a metal or mineral
(See Electrolytic).
RESOURCES & RESERVES: Mineral resources and reserves must
be reported according to the standards of National Instrument
43-101. Mineral resources are sub-divided, in order of increasing
geological condence, into inferred, indicated and measured
categories.
An inferred resource is the quantity and grade that can
be estimated on the basis of geological evidence and limited
sampling and reasonable assumed, but not veried, geological
and grade continuity. The estimate is based on limited
information and sampling of outcrops, trenches, pits, workings
and drill holes.
An indicated resource is the quantity and grade that can
be estimated with a level of condence sufcient to allow the
application of technical and economic parameters to support
mine planning and evaluation of the economic viability of the
deposit. The estimate is based on detailed and reliable exploration
and testing data from outcrops, trenches, pits, workings and drill
holes that are spaced closely enough for geological and grade
continuity to be reasonably assumed.
A measured resource is that part of a mineral resource
for which quantity, grade, densities, shape and physical
characteristics are so well established that they can be
estimated with condence sufcient to allow the application
of technical and economic parameters
to support planning and evaluation of
the economic viability of the deposit.
The estimate is based on detailed and
reliable exploration and testing data from
outcrops, trenches, pits, workings and
drill holes that are spaced closely enough
for geological and grade continuity to be
reasonably assumed.
A mineral reserve is the economically
mineable part of a measured or indicated
mineral resource demonstrated by at
least a preliminary feasibility study. This
study must include adequate information
on mining, processing, metallurgical,
economic and other relevant factors that
demonstrate economic extraction can
be justied.
A probable mineral reserve is
the economically mineable part of an
indicated, and in some circumstances, a measured mineral
resource demonstrated by at least a preliminary feasibility study.
This study must include adequate information on mining,
processing, metallurgical, economic and other relevant factors
that demonstrate economic extraction can be justied.
A proven mineral reserve is the economically mineable
part of a measured mineral resource demonstrated by at least a
preliminary feasibility study. This study must include adequate
information on mining, processing, metallurgical, economic and
other relevant factors that demonstrate economic extraction can
be justied.
SCOOP TRAM: A specially designed underground vehicle for
scooping out blasted ore and transporting it out of the mine.
SEDIMENTARY ROCK: A layered rock resulting from the
consolidation of sediments. (eg. sandstone, coal, limestone)
SHAFT: An opening cut downward into the earth from the
surface for transporting personnel, equipment, supplies, ore and
waste. It is also used for ventilation and as an auxiliary exit. It
is often equipped with a surface hoist system which lowers and
raises a cage in the shaft as well as skips or containers for
bringing up ore or waste.
SMELTING: The partial recovery of metal from processed ore.
The latter will have been treated and concentrated at a mill, but
smelting is required to actually recover the metal content and
convert it to a form that is ready for rening.
STAKING: The measuring of an area of ground and marking with
stakes or posts to establish and acquire mineral rights. Some
jurisdictions have now implemented online or map staking that
is accomplished with a personal computer and credit card.
STOPE: A mining area established on an underground level where
ore is blasted and broken.
TAILINGS: Waste material from a mineral processing mill.
VEIN: An opening, ssure, or crack in rock containing
mineralized material.
WINZE: A vertical or inclined internal shaft sunk from one level
to another in an underground mine.
summer 2005 www.resourceworld.com | 65
Some examples of diamond drill core. The
lower sample has been cut in half with a
diamond saw one-half goes for assay and
the other half is retained for study.
Photo by Rhonda Tobin