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Mining Glossary

Adit - an almost horizontal entrance to a mine.

Alloy – a compound of two or more metals.

Alluvium – deposit of sedimentary material laid down in river beds, lakes, flood plains or at the base of mountain slopes.

Assay – a chemical test performed on a sample of ores or minerals to determine the amount of valuable metals contained.

Assay map – plan view of an area indicating assay values and locations of all samples taken on the property.

Assessment work – the amount of work specified under mining law that must be performed each year in order to retain legal control of mining claims.

Backfill – waste material used to fill the void created by mining.

Back sample – rock samples collected from an excavated area for the purpose of determining grade.

Base metal – this is, strictly, the oxide form of any metal but is commonly referred to as being the non-precious metals that are traded on the London Metal Exchange.

Call factor – the fraction of an ore reserve that is successfully mined.

Carat – the unit of weight for gemstones (one carat weighs 200 mg).

Carlin type deposit
– very fine grain gold. The Carlin Trend is situated in northeastern Nevada and consists of a 60km northwest/southeast line of major gold deposits.

CIL - carbon-in-leach process which integrates leaching and carbon-in-pulp into a single unit process operation.

Contact – a geological term used to describe the line or plane along which two different rock formations meet.

Contango - a condition in which distant delivery prices exceed spot prices, often due to the costs of storing and insuring the underlying commodity. The opposite situation is called backwardation.

Cut-off grade
– The grade below which mineralisation is not included in the assessment of ore resources/reserves.

Cyanidation – a method using a weak cyanide solution by which gold or silver grains are extracted from ore.

Deposit – a body of rock containing a concentration of minerals.

Development drilling – drilling to establish accurate estimates of mineral reserves.

Dilution – the necessary mining of waste rock, along with ore. Measured as the ratio of waste rock to the total amount of rock mined.

Drift – a horizontal underground development that follows along the length of a rock formation as opposed to a crosscut, which crosses the rock formation.

Enechelon - a geologic feature that follows a zigzag fault pattern.

EPC - engineering, procurement and construction.

EPCM - engineering, procurement and construction management.

Feasibility study – an economic study assessing whether a mineral deposit can be mined profitably.

Gabbro – a dark, basic, coarse-grained igneous rock.

Garimpeiro - clandestine prospector or miner.

Garimpo - mine, claim or prospect.

Gross value – the theoretical value of ore determined by applying the assessed grade of metal(s) in the ore by the relevant current market price.

High grade – rich ore.

Induced polarisation
- a geophysical method and developed for ore exploration.

JORC code – widely accepted standard for reporting mineral resources and ore reserves established by the Australasian Joint Ore Reserves Committee.

Kimberlite pipe – an orebody shaped like a flute or pipe which can contain diamonds.

Laterite ore – ore occurring in the form of soil residue containing secondary oxides of metal, often associated with nickel.

Leaching – a chemical process for the extraction of valuable minerals from ore.

Lode – a mineral deposit in solid rock.

Longwall – a mining method (common on South African gold mines and European coal mines) involving straight, and narrow, working faces.

Measured resource – a resource whose size and grade have been estimated from sampling at intervals that are spaced closely enough together so that the deposit’s continuity is essentially confirmed.

National Instrument 43-101
- Canadian rule that governs how issuers disclose scientific and technical information about their mineral projects to the public.

Noble metal – a metal or alloy, such as gold, that is highly resistant to oxidation and corrosion.

Nomad – A firm or company which has been approved by the London Stock Exchange as a nominated adviser for the Alternative Investment Market (AIM).

Open pit – a mine that is entirely on the surface. Also referred to as open-cut or an open-cast mine (the latter normally for coal and industrial mineral operations).

Option – an agreement in which the buyer has the right to exercise by buying or selling an asset at a set price on or before a future date. The seller has an obligation to honour the terms of the contract.

Paste-fill – back-filling of mined-out underground areas with finely ground rock in a slurry.

PPM – parts per million, also gram/tonne

PPB - parts per billion.

Primary deposits
– valuable minerals deposited during the original period of mineralisation, as opposed to those deposited as a result of alteration or weathering.

Probable reserves – valuable mineralisation that is not yet sampled sufficiently to be ‘proven’.

Put option - an option which gives the holder the right but not the obligation to sell shares (or other financial instruments) at a fixed price on or before a given date.

Reserve – the part of a mineral resource that can be mined profitably.

SAG mill – semi-autogenous grinding mill.

Spot price – current delivery price of a commodity traded in the spot market.

Stope – an excavation in a mine from which ore is extracted (usually in a ‘longwall’).

Strike length – the distance and direction along which drilling results have established mineralisation.

SX/EW - solvent extraction, electrowinning.

Tailing – material rejected from a mill after most of the recoverable valuable minerals have been extracted.

Trend – the direction, in the horizontal plane, of a linear geological feature, such as an ore zone.

UTEM – deep electromagnetic survey.

Vein – a fissure, fault or crack in a rock filled by minerals that have travelled upwards from some deep source.

Warrant - a derivative security that gives the holder the right to purchase securities (usually equity) from the issuer at a specific price within a certain time frame. Warrants are often included in a new debt issue as a ‘sweetener’ to entice investors.

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