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A
- Assay
- Test ores or minerals by chemicals or other methods for the purpose of determining the amount of valuable metals contained.
- Ag
- Silver.
- Au
- Gold.
B
- Base Metal
- Classification of metals usually considered to be of low value and higher chemical activity when compared with the precious metals (gold, silver, platinum, etc.). This nonspecific term generally refers to the high-volume, low-value metals copper, lead, tin, and zinc.
- Breccia
- Rock consisting of fragments, more or less angular, in a matrix of finer-grained material or of cementing material.
C
- CIM
- Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum.
- CIM Standards
- Mineral Resources and Reserves Definitions and Guidelines adopted by the CIM Council on May 10, 2014, as those definitions may be amended from time to time by the CIM.
- Claim
- Mining interest giving its holder the right to prospect, explore for and exploit minerals within a defined area.
- Concentrates
- Clean product of ore or metal separated from its containing rock or earth by froth flotation or other methods of mineral separation.
- Concentrator
- Plane where ore is separated in values (concentrates) and rejects (tails).
- Concession
- Grant or lease of a tract of land made by a government or other controlling authority in return for stipulated services or a promise that the land will be used for a specific purpose.
- Cu
- Copper.
- Cut-off Grade
- Grade below which mineralized material is considered uneconomic.
D
- Development
- Preparation of a mineable deposit.
- Diamond Core
- Rotary type of rock drill that cuts a core of rock and is recovered in long cylindrical sections, two centimetres or more in diameter.
- Deposit
- Informal term for an accumulation of mineral ores.
E
- Exploration Stage
- Prospect that is not yet in either the development or production stage.
F
- Feasibility Study
- Engineering study designed to define the technical, economic, and legal viability of a mining project with a high degree of reliability.
- Formation
- Distinct layer of sedimentary rock of similar composition.
G
- Grade
- Metal content of ore, usually expressed in troy ounces per ton (2,000 pounds) or in grams per ton or metric tons which contains 2,204.6 pounds or 1,000 kilograms.
- g/t
- Grams per metric tonne.
H
I
- Indicated Mineral Resource
- Indicated Mineral Resource is the classification of mineral deposits based on their geologic certainty and economic value. Indicated resources are simply economic mineral occurrences that have been sampled (from locations such as outcrops, trenches, pits and drillholes) to a point where an estimate has been made, at a reasonable level of confidence, of their contained metal, grade, tonnage, shape, densities, physical characteristics.
- Inferred Mineral Resource
- Inferred Mineral Resource is the classification of mineral deposits based on their geologic certainty and economic value. Inferred Resource is the part of a mineral resource for which tonnage, grade and mineral content can be estimated with a low level of confidence. It is inferred from geological evidence and assumed but not verified geological or grade continuity. It is based on information gathered through appropriate techniques from locations such as outcrops, trenches, pits, workings and drill holes which may be of limited or uncertain quality and reliability.
J
K
- kg
- Kilograms.
- km
- Kilometre.
- kV
- Kilovolt
L
- lb
- One pound and is equal to 454 grams.
- lode
- Mineral deposit, consisting of a zone of veins, veinlets or disseminations, in consolidated rock as opposed to a placer deposit.
M
- m
- Metre.
- Ma
- Millions of years.
- Mineral Reserves
- Mineral reserves are resources known to be economically feasible for extraction. Reserves are either Probable Reserves or Proved Reserves.
- Mineral Resource
- Mineral Resource is the classification of mineral deposits based on their geologic certainty and economic value.
- Mineralization
- Concentration of metals within a body of rock.
- Mining
- Process of extraction and beneficiation of mineral reserves to produce a marketable metal or mineral product. Exploration continues during the mining process and, in many cases, mineral reserves are expanded during the life of the mine operations as the exploration potential of the deposit is realized.
- Moz
- Millions of ounces.
N
- Net Smelter Return Royalty
- Defined percentage of the gross revenue from a resource extraction operation, less a proportionate share of transportation, insurance, and processing costs.
- NPV
- Net Present Value.
O
- Open Pit
- Mine working or excavation open to the surface.
- Ore
- Metal or mineral or combination of these of sufficient value as to quality or quantity to enable it to be mined and processed at a profit.
- Outcrop
- Part of the geologic formation or structure that appears at the surface of the earth.
- Oxide
- Mineralized rock in which some of the original minerals have been oxidized (i.e. combined with oxygen). Oxidation tends to make the ore more porous and permits a more complete permeation of cyanide solution so that minute particles of gold in the interior of the minerals will be more readily dissolved.
- oz
- Troy ounces.
P
- Pb
- Lead.
- Placer deposit
- Deposit of sand or gravel that contains particles of gold, ilmenite, gemstones, or other heavy minerals of value.
- ppm
- Parts per million.
- Precious Metal
- Any of several relatively scarce and valuable metals, such as gold, silver and the platinum group metals.
- Probable Mineral Reserve
- A Probable Ore Reserve is the part of indicated, and in some circumstances, measured mineral resources that can be mined in an economically viable fashion. It includes diluting material and allowances for losses which may occur when the material is mined. A Probable Ore Reserve has a lower level of confidence than a Proved Ore Reserve but is of sufficient quality to serve as the basis for decision on the development of deposit.
- Production Stage
- Project that is actively engaged in the process of extraction and beneficiation of mineral reserves to produce a marketable metal or mineral product.
- Proven Mineral Reserve
- A Proven Ore Reserve is the part of Measured resources that can be mined in an economically viable fashion. It includes diluting materials and allowances for losses which occur when the material is mined. A Proven Ore Reserve represents the highest confidence category of reserve estimate. The style of mineralization or other factors could mean that Proved Ore Reserves are not achievable in some deposits.
Q
- QC/QC
- Quality Assurance/Quality Control.
R
- Reclamation
- Process of returning land to another use after mining is completed.
- Recovery
- Portion of the metal contained in the ore that is successfully extracted by processing, expressed as a percentage.
- Reserves
- Part of the mineral deposit that could be economically and legally extracted or produced at the time of reserve determination.
S
- Sampling
- Selecting a fractional, but representative, part of a mineral deposit for analysis.
- Sediment
- Solid fragmental material that originates from weathering of rocks and is transported or deposited by air, water, or ice, or that accumulates by other natural agents, such as chemical precipitation from solution or secretion by organisms, and that forms in layers on the Earth’s surface at ordinary temperatures in a loose, unconsolidated form.
- Sedimentary
- Formed by the deposition of sediment.
- SFA
- Screen fire assay.
- Sulfide
- Compound of sulfur and some other element.
T
- t or tonne
- Measure of weight equal to 1,000 kg or 2,204 lbs.
- tpd
- Metric tonnes per day.
- Tertiary
- First period of the Cenozoic Era (after the Cretaceous of the Mesozoic Era and before the Quaternary), though to have covered the span of time between 65 million years and 3 to 2 million years ago.
U
V
- Vein
- Fissure, fault or crack in a rock filled by minerals that have traveled upwards from some deep source.
W
- Waste
- Rock lacking sufficient grade and/or other characteristics of ore.
X
Y