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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