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Mining Glossary

Adit: A passage driven into a mine from a hill or mountainside.

Alluvial deposits: Material, typically sands and gravels, transported by a river and deposited at points on the river’s flood plain. These deposits can contain economically viable mineral resources.

Bench: A ledge created in an open pit, which forms the surface for extraction. The size of the bench will reflect the strength of the rock, stability of adjacent slopes, pit economics and the machinery employed.

By-product: Material of some economic value produced in a process which is focused on extracting another material.

Concentrating: The process of separating milled ore into two streams; one greatly enriched in the valuable mineral (concentrate) and another of waste material (tailings).

Decline: An inclined shaft used to transport workers, materials and ore to and from the underground working area in a mine.

Disseminated: Term applied to ore deposits consisting of fine grains of ore mineral dispersed through the host rock.

Gangue: Material in the ore of no economic value.

Grade: The mass of desired metal(s) in a given mass of ore.

Head Grade: The grade of the ore leaving the mine and entering the processing plant.

Milling: The first stage of mineral processing. Ore pieces from the mine are further mechanically reduced in size to maximise efficiency of the concentration process. In general two types of mills are used. Autogenous mills simply tumble the ore to achieve the desired grains size, whilst other mills which use an additional media, such as steel balls or rods to aid milling.

Mining feasibility Study: An assessment of the economic viability of a potential mining project.

Open pit: A mine based on extraction from a surface excavation, which remains open to the surface for the life of the mine.

Ore: Rock from which metal or minerals can be extracted at a financial profit.

Ore mineral: A mineral which contains a metal or metals which can be extracted at a financial profit.

Smelting: Extracting metals from the ore concentrate by pyrometallurgical processes.

Stope: Void created by extracting ore underground.

Stoping: activity of extracting ore underground.

Source: Platinum Today

:) Falkor

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