To help you through some of the inevitable mining and finance jargon we have produced the following 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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