By virtue of their lifeblood industry, Flin Flon area residents hear their share of mining terms, but do we always know what they mean?
Here are the definitions of some common terms, as provided by the Mining Association of Manitoba.
A
Aeromagnetic survey: A geophysical survey using a magnetometer aboard, or towed behind, an aircraft.
Airborne survey: A survey made from an aircraft to obtain photographs, or measure magnetic properties, radioactivity, etc.
Anode: A rectangular plate of metal cast in a shape suitable for refining by the electrolytic process.
Assay: A chemical test performed on a sample of ores or minerals to determine the amount of valuable metals contained.
B
Backfill: Waste material used to fill the void created by mining an ore body.
Ball mill: A steel cylinder filled with steel balls into which crushed ore is fed. The ball mill is rotated, causing the balls to cascade and grind the ore.
Base camp: Centre of operations from which exploration activity is conducted.
Bedding: The arrangement of sedimentary rocks in layers.
Bio-leaching: A process for recovering metals from low-grade ores by dissolving them in solution, the dissolution being aided by bacterial action.
Bulk mining: Any large-scale, mechanized method of mining involving many thousands of tonnes of ore being brought to surface per day.
C
Cage: The conveyance used to transport men and equipment between the surface and the mine levels.
Calcine: Name given to concentrate that is ready for smelting (i.e. the sulphur has been driven off by oxidation).
Cathode: A rectangular plate of metal, produced by electrolytic refining, which is melted into commercial shapes such as wirebars, billets, ingots, etc.
Collar: The term applied to the timbering or concrete around the mouth of a shaft; also used to describe the top of a mill hole.
Concentrate: A fine, powdery product of the milling process containing a high percentage of valuable metal.
Concentrator: A milling plant that produces a concentrate of the valuable minerals or metals. Further treatment is required to recover the pure metal.
Custom smelter: A smelter which processes concentrates from independent mines. Concentrates may be purchased or the smelter may be contracted to do the processing for the independent company.
Cut-and-fill: A method of stoping in which ore is removed in slices, or lifts, and then the excavation is filled with rock or other waste material (backfill), before the subsequent slice is extracted.
Cyanide: A chemical species containing carbon and nitrogen used to dissolve gold and silver from ore.
D
Dilution: Rock that is, by necessity, removed along with the ore in the mining process, subsequently lowering the grade of the ore.
Dividend: Cash or stock awarded to preferred and common shareholders at the discretion of the company’s board of directors.
E
EM survey: A geophysical survey method which measures the electromagnetic properties of rocks.
F
Fissure: An extensive crack, break or fracture in rocks.
Flow-through shares: Shares in an exploration company that allow the tax deduction or credits for mineral exploration to be passed to the investor.
G
Geophysical survey: A scientific method of prospecting that measures the physical properties of rock formations. Common properties investigated include magnetism, specific gravity, electrical conductivity and radioactivity.
Glory hole: An open pit from which ore is extracted, especially where broken ore is passed to underground workings before being hoisted.
Granite: A coarse-grained intrusive igneous rock consisting of quartz, feldspar and mica.
Greenstone belt: An area underlain by metamorphosed volcanic and sedimentary rocks, usually in a continental shield.
H
High grade: Rich ore. As a verb, it refers to selective mining of the best ore in a deposit.
L
Leaching: A chemical process for the extraction of valuable minerals from ore; also, a natural process by which ground waters dissolve minerals, thus leaving the rock with a smaller proportion of some of the minerals than it contained originally.
Line cutting: Straight clearings through the bush to permit sightings for geophysical and other surveys.
Lode: A mineral deposit in solid rock.
M
Magnetic survey: A geophysical survey that measures the intensity of the Earth’s magnetic field.
Matte: A product of a smelter, containing metal and some sulphur, which must be refined further to obtain pure metal.
Muck: Ore or rock that has been broken by blasting.
N
Net smelter return: A share of the net revenues generated from the sale of metal produced by a mine.
Nugget: A small mass of precious metal, found free in nature.
O
Ore reserves: The calculated tonnage and grade of mineralization which can be extracted profitably, classified as possible, probable and proven according to the level of confidence that can be placed in the data.
Outcrop: An exposure of rock or mineral deposit that can be seen on surface, that is, not covered by soil or water.
Oxidation: A chemical reaction caused by exposure to oxygen that results in a change in the chemical composition of a mineral.
P
Possible reserves: Valuable mineralization not sampled enough to accurately estimate its tonnage and grade, or even verify its existence. Also called inferred reserves.
Probable reserves: Valuable mineralization not sampled enough to accurately estimate the terms of tonnage and grade. Also called indicated reserves.
Proven reserves: Reserves that have been sampled extensively by closely spaced diamond drill holes and developed by underground workings in sufficient detail to render an accurate estimation of grade and tonnage. Also called measured reserves.
Q
Quartz: Common rock-forming mineral consisting of silicon and oxygen.
R
Rare earth elements: Relatively scarce minerals such as niobium and yttrium.
Refractory ore: Ore that resists the action of chemical reagents in the normal treatment processes and which may require pressure leaching or other means to effect the full recovery of the valuable minerals.
Reverberatory furnace: A long, flat furnace used to slag gangue minerals and produce a matte.
S
Shear or shearing: The deformation of rocks by lateral movement along innumerable parallel planes, generally resulting from pressure and producing such metamorphic structures as cleavage and schistosity.
Sludge: Rock cuttings from a diamond drill hole, sometimes used for assaying.
Stope: An excavation in a mine from which ore is, or has been, extracted.
Stringer: A narrow vein or irregular filament of a mineral or minerals traversing a rock mass.
Sulphide: A compound of sulphur and some other element.
Sulphide dust explosions: An underground mining hazard involving the spontaneous combustion of airborne dust containing sulphide minerals.
Sump: An underground excavation where water accumulates before being pumped to surface.
T
Tailings: Material rejected from a mill after most of the recoverable valuable minerals have been extracted.
Tram: To haul cars of ore or waste in a mine.
V
Volcanogenic: A term used to describe the volcanic origin of mineralization.
Z
Zone: An area of distinct mineralization.
