Mining Terms

• Adit


  A passageway or opening driven horizontally into the side of a hill generally for the purpose of exploring or otherwise opening a mineral deposit. An adit is open to the atmosphere at one end, a tunnel at both ends.
• Aerial tramway


  A system for the transporting of ore or rock in buckets which are suspended from a cable
• Alloy


  A compound of two or more metals, usually produced by fusion
• Amalgamation


  A process by which gold and silver are extracted from an ore by dissolving them in mercury
• Apex


  The top or terminal edge of a vein on the surface or its nearest point to the surface
• Assay


  To test ores or minerals by chemical or other methods for the purpose of determining the amount of valuable metals contained
• Assessment work


  The amount of work specified by law, which must be done each year to retain legal control of mining lands
• Autogenous grinding


  The process of grinding in a rotating mill which uses as a grinding medium large pieces or pebbles of the ore being ground, instead of conventional steel balls or rods
• Backstope


  The initial lift or slice when commencing to stope or mine from a drift
• Ball mill


  A piece of milling equipment used to grind ore into small particles. It is a cylindrical shaped steel container filled with steel balls into which crushed ore is fed. The ball mill is rotated causing the balls themselves to cascade, which in turn grinds the ore
• Base metal


  A metal inferior in value to gold and silver, generally applied to the commercial metals such as copper, lead, etc
• Bedrock


  Solid rock forming the earth's crust, frequently covered by overburden or water
• Bit


  The cutting end of boring instrument. In rock drilling, it is frequently made with ultra-hard material such as diamonds or tungsten carbide
• Blast hole


  A hole drilled for purposes of blasting rather than for exploration or geological information
• Block caving


  A cheap method of mining in which large blocks of ore are under cut, the ore breaking and caving under its own weight
• Bonanza


  Very rich ore, or situation
• Breast


  A working face, usually restricted to a stope
• Bullion


  Metal in bars, ingots or other uncoined form
• Cage


  The conveyance used to transport men and equipment in a shaft
• Cathode


  A rectangular plate of metal produced by electrolytic refining which is melted into commercial shapes such as ingots
• Change house


  A special building constructed at a mine where the miner changes to his working clothes; also known as a dry house
• Chute


  An inclined opening, usually constructed of timber and equipped with a gate, through which ore is drawn from a stope into mine cars
• Claim


  A portion of mining land held under federal or provincial law
• Collar


  The term applied to the timbering or concrete around the mouth of a shaft; also used to describe the top of a drill hole
• Concentrate


  A product containing the valuable metal and from which most of the waste material in the ore has been removed
• Core


  The long cylinder of rock, about one inch or more in diameter, that is recovered by the diamond drill
• Core barrel


  That part of a string of tools in diamond drilling in which the core specimen collects
• Crosscut


  A horizontal opening driven across the course of a vein or structure, or in general across the strike of the rock formation; a connection from a shaft to an ore structure
• Crusher


  A machine for crushing rock, such as a gyratory crusher, jaw crusher, stamp mill, etc
• Cyanidation


  A method of extracting gold or silver by dissolving it in a weak solution of sodium cyanide
• Development


  The underground work carried out for the purpose of reaching and opening up a mineral deposit. It includes shaft sinking, cross-cutting, drifting and raising
• De-areator tank


  This tank is used to process ore into gold in hard rock mining
• Diamond drill


  A rotary type of rock drill in which the cutting is done by abrasion rather than percussion. The cutting bit is set with diamonds and is attached to the end of long hollow rods. The drill cuts a core of rock which is recovered in long cylindrical sections, an inch or more in diameter
• Differential flotation


  A milling process using the flotation process, by which concentrates are made of each of the various valuable minerals in an ore
• Dilution


  Waste of low grade rock which is unavoidably removed along with the ore in the mining process
• Dip


  The angle at which a vein, structure or rock bed is inclined from the horizontal, measured at right angles to the strike
• Dip needle


  A compass whose needle is mounted so as to swing in a vertical plane, used for determining the magnetic attraction of rocks
• Drag fold


  Rock that has been folded or bent back on itself
• Drift (drive)


  A horizontal passage underground that follow along the length of a vein or rock formation as opposed to a crosscut which crosses the rock formation
• Drifter


  A rock drill used for boring horizontal holes for blasting