Mining Terms
Adit
A horizontal or near-horizontal entrance to an underground mine, from
which the mine can be entered, ventilated, etc.
Anomaly
A deviation from the general survey, which may indicate an ore body;
can be synonymous with ore body or structure.
Assay
A compositional analysis to determine the amount of metal in an ore
or alloy (e.g., fire assay).
Backfill
The waste that is used to fill the void created by mining an ore body to keep
mine shafts or stopes stable.
Ball mill
A cylindrical piece of processing equipment used to grind ore into powder
for further processing; the cylinder is rotated causing the steel balls to
impact and grind the ore in the ball mill.
Block caving
A method of bulk mining that uses gravity to extract ore in an efficient
manner; large blocks of ore are undercut causing the ore to cave, which is
then extracted via the haulage access.
Bulk sample
A large and representative sample of rock selected to determine the
metallurgical characteristics of a potential ore body.
Bullion
An uncoined solid mass of gold or silver; typically in the form of bars or
ingots.
Cathode
A rectangular plate of metal, often copper, produced by electrowinning
refining process.
Chute
An inclined passage for the transfer of ore to a lower level using gravity.
Complex ore
An ore containing multiple minerals of varying value and use; the interaction
of the different minerals in complex ore can lead to issues with metallurgical
recovery.
Concentrate
The fine, powdery output from the milling process, containing a high
percentage of valuable metals.
Concentrator
A type of processing equipment that separates particles within the ground
ore using gravity to produce concentrate as the finished product.
Crusher
Apparatus in which ore is broken into progressively smaller pieces (e.g., jaw
crusher, gyratory crusher).
Cut and fill
A method of underground mining in which ore is mined in lifts or slices,
which is then backfilled prior to mining the next lift or slice.
Diamond drilling
A method of drilling using a rotary drill and diamond bit to extract a solid
core of rock in long cylindrical sections from the ore body.
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Glossary
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