Operations / Projects

Adit
A passage driven into a mine from the side of a hill

Ag – Silver

Airborne Geophysical Survey
Geophysical surveys carried out with airborne instruments

Albion Process
A proprietary process licensed by Xstrata Technology and marketed by their subsidiary Core Resources for the recovery of base and precious metals from refractory sulphide ores. The Process incorporates ultrafine grinding to increase the surface area and activity of sulphide concentrates to a point where they can be oxidised readily in conventional open tanks for subsequent extraction of the values, without the need for high pressures, reagents or bacteria

Alteration
Any change in the mineralogical composition of a rock brought about by physical or chemical means, esp. by the action of hydrothermal fluids

Anticline
A fold, generally convex upward, whose core contains the stratigraphically older rocks

Antiform
A structural geological term for a fold that is convex up

Aplite
A light-coloured igneous rock characterised by a fine-grained sugary texture

Arsenopyrite (FeAsS)
An iron arsenic sulphide mineral, the most common arsenic mineral and principal ore of arsenic; occurs in many sulphide ore deposits, particularly those containing lead, silver, and gold

Assay
To analyse the proportions of metals in an ore; to test an ore or mineral for composition, purity, weight, or other properties of commercial interest

Assay Grade
The percentage of valuable constituents in an ore, determined from assay

Aqua Regia
Is a highly corrosive, fuming yellow or red solution, also called nitro-hydrochloric acid, capable of dissolving metals

Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS)
A technique for determining the concentration of a particular metal element in a sample

Au – Gold

Backfilling
A method using waste sand or rock to support the roof or walls after removal of ore from a stope

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 Metal
A metal which oxidises when heated in air, e.g. lead, copper, tin, zinc, as opposed to precious metals such as gold and platinum

Bedrock
Solid rock exposed at the surface of the Earth or overlain by unconsolidated material, weathered rock, or soil

Block Caving
A general term that refers to a mass mining system where the extraction of the ore depends largely on the action of gravity. By removing a thin horizontal layer at the mining level of the ore column, using standard mining methods, the vertical support of the ore column above is removed and the ore then caves by gravity. As broken ore is removed from the mining level of the ore column, the ore above continues to break and cave by gravity

Bornite (CuSFeS4)
A common sulphide ore of copper

BQ
Diamond drill core of 36.5mm diameter

Breccia
A coarse-grained clastic rock, composed of angular broken rock fragments held together by a mineral cement or in a fine-grained matrix

Brownfield Project
A development or exploration project in the vicinity of an existing or historic operation

Chalcopyrite (Cu,FeS2)
A mineral that is the chief ore of copper and contains iron and sulphur

Carbon-In-Leach (CIL)
A process step wherein granular activated carbon particles much larger than the ground ore particles are introduced into the ore pulp. Cyanide leaching and precious metals adsorption onto the activated carbon occur simultaneously. The loaded activated carbon is mechanically screened to separate it from the barren ore pulp and processed to remove the precious metals and prepare it for reuse

Channel sample
A sample composed of pieces of vein or mineral deposit that have been cut out of a small trench or channel, usually about 10 cm wide and 2 cm deep

CIM – Canadian Institute of Mining

Collar
The beginning point of a shaft or drill hole

Comminution
The breaking, crushing, or grinding by mechanical means of ore, for direct use or further processing

Compositing
A sample comprising two or more increments selected to represent the material being analysed

Concentrate
The clean mineral product recovered from froth flotation, containing a high content of valuable metal

Contained Metal
The actual amount of calculated metal within the ore or concentrate

Core
The long cylindrical piece of rock brought to surface by diamond drilling

Core Logging
The process of recording geological observations of drill core either on paper or on computer disk

Cross-cut
An underground passageway driven at right angles to the main entry to connect it with a parallel entry or air course

Cu – Copper

Cupellation
The metallurgical process in which ores or alloyed metals are treated under high temperatures and carefully controlled operations in order to separate precious metals, like gold and silver, from base metals like lead, copper, zinc, arsenic, antimony or bismuth, that might be present in the ore

Cut & Fill
An extractive mining method that implies a definite and characteristic sequence of operations: (1) breaking a slice of ore from the back; (2) removing the broken ore; and (3) introducing filling

Cut-off grade
The lowest grade of mineralised material that qualifies as economic for estimating Mineral Resources or Ore Reserves

Decline
A sloping underground opening for access from level to level or from surface; also called a ramp

Deposit
Mineral deposit or ore deposit is used to designate a natural occurrence of a useful mineral, or an ore, in sufficient extent and degree of concentration to invite exploitation

Dip
The angle at which a bed, stratum, or vein is inclined from the horizontal, measured perpendicular to the strike and in the vertical plane

DH – Drill Hole

Diamond Drilling (DDH)
A common method of prospecting for mineral deposits, involves using a rotary type drill machine which is designed to recover rock samples in the form of cylindrical cores from rocks penetrated by boreholes

Dilution
Rock that is, by necessity, removed along with the ore in the mining process, subsequently lowering the grade of the ore

Disseminated
Said of a mineral deposit (esp. of metals) in which the desired minerals occur as scattered particles in the rock, but in sufficient quantity to make the deposit an ore.

DMT – Dry Metric Tonne

Doré
Gold and silver bullion that remains in a cupelling furnace after the lead has been oxidised and skimmed off

Drift
A horizontal passage underground. A drift follows the vein, as distinguished from a crosscut that intersects it, or a level or gallery, which may do either

Drive
An underground passage for exploration, development, or working of an orebody

Dump
To unload; specifically, a load of ore or waste; or, the pile created by such unloading, e.g. a waste dump (also called heap, pile, tip, spoil pike, etc.)

Dyke
A long and relatively thin body of igneous rock that, while in the molten state, intruded a fissure in older rocks

EIA – Environmental Impact Assessment

EIS – Environment Impact Study

EM – Electromagnetic Surveying
The act or process of using a geophysical method of systematically measuring electromagnetic waves in a specific area of the Earth's surface or in an area adjacent to boreholes

Epithermal Deposit
A hydrothermal mineral deposit formed within about 1 km of the Earth's surface and in the temperature range of 50 to 200 degrees celcius. Also, said of that depositional environment.

Fault
A fracture or a fracture zone in crustal rocks along which there has been displacement of the two sides relative to one another parallel to the fracture

Fe – Iron

Feasibility Study
A study gathering together the information that is required for a decision whether and how to proceed further. A study of this kind may vary from a preliminary estimate of mill cost to a very complete survey that may include a market analysis, mining plan with ore grades and mining cost, metallurgical testing, process development, plans for the mill, cash flow analysis, etc

Fill
Tailings, waste, etc., used to fill underground space left after extraction of ore

Filter cake
The compacted solid or semisolid material separated from a liquid and remaining on a filter after pressure filtration

Filter press
A form of pressure filter, non-continuous in operation; used for the removal of water from slurries, tailings, and similar products

Fire Assay
The assaying of metallic ores, usually gold and silver, by methods requiring a furnace heat; commonly involves the processes of scorification, cupellation, etc.

Flotation
A milling process in which valuable mineral particles are induced to become attached to bubbles and float as others sink

Footwall
The underlying side of a fault, orebody, or mine working; esp. the wall rock beneath an inclined vein or fault; lower plate; foot

Formation
The basic unit for the naming of rocks in stratigraphy: a set of rocks that are or once were horizontally continuous, that share some distinctive feature of lithology, and are large enough to be mapped

Galena (PbS)
The natural mineral form of lead sulphide, it is the most important lead ore mineral, occurs in hydrothermal veins or replacement deposits in sedimentary rocks commonly with sphalerite

Gangue
The valueless minerals in an ore; that part of an ore that is not economically desirable but cannot be avoided in mining. It is separated from the ore minerals during concentration

Gemcom
Mining software designed to automate and integrate key operations for exploration, resource evaluation, mine planning, mine design, mine operations and mine production

Geochemical survey
A survey involving the chemical analysis of systematically collected samples of rock, soil, stream sediments, plants, or water; this expression may be further modified by indicating the material sampled, as, for example, geochemical soil survey

Graben
An elongate, relatively depressed crustal unit or block that is bounded by faults on its long sides

Grade
The relative quantity or the percentage of ore-mineral or metal content in an orebody

Greenfield project
The development or exploration of a new project not previously examined

Ground Magnetic Survey
A geophysical survey that measures the intensity of the Earth's magnetic field with measurements recorded on the ground

g/t – grams per metric tonne

Hanging-wall
The overlying side of an orebody, fault, or mine working, esp. the wall rock above an inclined vein or fault

High Sulphidation, (HS)
An epithermal deposit style, where the deposits are hosted by leached silicic rock and are associated with acidic fluids generated in volcanic-hydrothermal environments

Heading
An interior level or airway driven underground in a mine

Horizon
An interface indicative of a particular position in a stratigraphic sequence. In practice it is commonly a distinctive, very thin bed or marker

HQ
Diamond drill core of 63.5mm diameter

Hydrothermal fluids
Hot aqueous fluids that commonly contain minerals which can precipitate as deposits

Indicated Resource
Resources from which the quantity and grade and/or quality are computed from information similar to that used for measured resources, but the sites for inspection, sampling, and measurement are farther apart or are otherwise less adequately spaced. The degree of assurance, although lower than that for measured resources, is high enough to assume continuity between points of
observation

Inferred Resource
Resources from which estimates are based on an assumed continuity beyond measured and/or indicated resources, for which there is geologic evidence. Inferred resources may or may not be supported by samples or measurements

K-Ar dating
Potassium argon dating is a radiometric dating used in geochronology (rock dating). It is based on measurement of the product of the radioactive decay of an isotope of potassium (K) into argon (Ar). It allows the calculation of the absolute age of samples older than a few thousand years

Kriging
In the estimation of ore reserves by geostatistical methods, the use of a weighted, moving-average approach both to account for the estimated values of spatially distributed variables, and also to assess the probable error associated with the estimates

Leaching
The separation, selective removal, or dissolving-out of soluble constituents from a rock or orebody by the natural action of percolating water

Leucocratic
Light-coloured; applied to igneous rocks that are relatively poor in mafic minerals, less than 30%

LHD – Load Haul Dump

Listric Fault
A curved downward-flattening fault, generally concave upward. Listric faults may be characterised by normal or reverse separation

Lithostratigraphic sample
A rock sample taken from a particular stratum of rock

LOM – Life of Mine
The time in which, through the employment of the available capital, the ore reserves or such reasonable extension of the ore reserves as conservative geological analysis may justify will be extracted

Lithology
The character of a rock described in terms of its structure, colour, mineral composition, grain size, and arrangement of its component parts

Low Sulphidation, (LS)
An epithermal deposit style, where the ore forms in veins in geothermal environments i.e. hot springs

ma – million years ago

Marker beds
A stratigraphic bed selected for use in preparing structural, palaeogeologic, and other maps that emphasize the nature or attitude of a plane or a surface. It is generally selected for lithologic characteristics

Massif
A massive topographic and structural feature, esp. in an orogenic belt, commonly formed of rocks more rigid than those of its surroundings. These rocks may be protruding bodies of basement rocks or younger plutonic bodies

Measured Resource
Resources from which the quantity is computed from dimensions revealed in outcrops, trenches, workings, or drill holes; grade and/or quality are computed from the results of detailed sampling. The sites for inspection, sampling, and measurement are spaced so closely and the geologic character is so well defined that size, shape, depth, and mineral content of the resource are well established

Mesothermal Deposit
A mineral deposit formed at moderate temperature and pressure, in and along fissures or other openings in rocks, by deposition at intermediate depths, from hydrothermal fluids

Mineral Resources
The calculated amount of material in a mineral deposit, based on limited drill information

moz – Millions of ounces

mt – Millions of tonnes

mtpa – Millions of tonnes per annum

NAMR
Romanian National Agency for Mineral Resources

Native gold
Gold present in elemental form

NI 43-101
National Instrument 43-101 (NI 43-101) is a mineral resource classification scheme used for the public disclosure of information relating to mineral properties in Canada. The NI is a strict guideline for how public companies can disclose scientific and technical information about mineral projects on bourses supervised by the Canadian Securities Administrators

Normal fault
A fault in which the hanging wall appears to have moved downward relative to the footwall. The angle of the fault is usually 45 degrees to 90 degrees

NSR – Net Smelter Return

Ordinary Kriging (OK)
A geostatistical approach to modelling. Instead of weighting nearby data points by some power of their inverted distance, OK relies on the spatial correlation structure of the data to determine the weighting values. This is a more rigorous approach to modelling, as correlation between data points determines the estimated value at an unsampled point

Open at depth
The orebody has the potential to extend; drilling has not reached a definitive end to the deposit

Open cast
A working in which excavation is performed from the surface. Commonly called open pit; open cut mine

Open cut
Surface working in which the working area is kept open to the sky

Ore
The naturally occurring material from which a mineral or minerals of economic value can be extracted profitably or to satisfy social or political objectives

Orebody
A continuous, well-defined mass of material of sufficient ore content to make extraction economically feasible

Ore Reserves
Part of a mineral deposit that could be economically and legally extracted or produced at the time of the reserve determination

Orogeny
The process by which structures within fold-belt mountainous areas were formed, including thrusting, folding, and faulting in the outer and higher layers, and plastic folding, metamorphism, and plutonism in the inner and deeper layers. Adj: orogenic; orogenetic

Pb – Lead

PEIS – Preliminary Environmental Impact Study

Percussion rotary air blast drilling (RAB)
RAB drilling is used primarily for mineral exploration. The drill uses a pneumatic reciprocating piston-driven 'hammer' to energetically drive a heavy drill bit into the rock. The cuttings are blown up the outside of the rods and collected at surface

Plug
A vertical, pipe-like body of magma that represents the conduit to a former volcanic vent

Plunge
The vertical angle between a horizontal plane and the line of maximum elongation of an orebody

Plutonic intrusions
Igneous rocks formed at great depths

Polymetallic
A sulphide deposit rich in copper, zinc, lead, silver, or gold, which forms as a result of hydrothermal activity in the vicinity of mid-ocean spreading centres or tectonically active basins

Polymitic
A conglomerate or breccia which contains clasts of many different rock types

Porphyry
A deposit in which contains minerals of copper, molybdenum and gold as disseminations or in a stockwork of small veinlets with a large mass of hydrothermally altered igneous rock. Most deposits are large and low grade and are mined using bulk mining methods

Probable Ore Reserves
Reserves for which quantity and grade and/or quality are computed from information similar to that used for proven (measured) reserves, but the sites for inspection, sampling and measurement are farther apart or are otherwise less adequately spaced. The degree of assurance, although lower than that for proven (measured) reserves, is high enough to assure continuity between points of observation. Probable reserves are derived from Indicated Resource

Propylitic alteration
The result of low-pressure-temperature alteration around many orebodies. The propylitic assemblage consists of epidote, chlorite, Mg-Fe-Ca carbonates, and sometimes albite-orthoclase, all involved in partial replacement of wall-rock minerals

Proved Ore Reserves
Reserves for which (a) quantity is computed from dimensions revealed in outcrops, trenches and workings on drill holes and grade and/or quality are computed from the results of detailed samplings and, (b) the sites for inspection, sampling and measurement are spaced so closely and the geological character is so well defined that size, shape, depth and mineral content of reserves are well established. Proved Reserves are derived from Measured Resources

PUZ – Zonal Urbanisation Plan

Pyrite (FeS2)
An iron sulphide mineral, the most common sulphide mineral, commonly termed “Fool’s Gold”

Radiometric Surveying
Use of Geiger-Muller apparatus for field detection of emission count in search for radioactive minerals

Ramp
An incline connecting two levels in an open pit or underground mine

Reverse Circulation drilling (RC)
Reverse circulation is achieved by blowing air down the rods, the differential pressure creating air lift of the water and cuttings up the inner tube which is inside each rod. RC drilling utilises much larger rigs and machinery

Recovery
The percentage of valuable constituent derived from an ore

Refractory
Said of an ore from which it is difficult or expensive to recover its valuable constituents

Replacement Deposit
A mineral deposit that has been formed by deposition from mineral solutions taking the place of some earlier, different substance

Reserve Life
Current stated ore reserves divided by current rate of production, or by nominal ROM production

Reverse Fault
A fault on which the hanging wall appears to have moved upward relative to the footwall. The dip of the fault is usually greater than 45 degrees

Rod Mill
A mill for fine grinding, employing long steel rods instead of balls to effect the grinding

Run of Mine product (ROM)
Product mined in the course of regular mining activities

SEDAR
System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval. The electronic filing system for the disclosure documents of public companies within Canada

Shaft
A primary vertical or non-vertical opening through mine strata used for ventilation or drainage and/or for hoisting of personnel or materials; connects the surface with underground workings

Silicification
The introduction of, or replacement by, silica, generally resulting in the formation of fine-grained quartz, chalcedony, or opal, which may fill pores and replace existing minerals

Skarn
Metamorphic rocks surrounding an igneous intrusive where it comes in contact with a limestone or dolostone formation

Slashing
To mine out the roof of a drift in order to access a level above

Smelting
The chemical reduction of a metal from its ore

Selective Mining Unit (SMU)
The smallest mineable block of material
in the mine that can be classified as either ore or waste

Sphalerite (Zn, Fe) S)
A mineral which is the chief ore of zinc, it principally contains sulphide and variable iron

Stockpile
An accumulation of ore or mineral built up when demand slackens or when the treatment plant or beneficiation equipment is incomplete or temporarily unequal to handling the mine output; any heap of material formed to create a reserve for loading or other purposes

Stockwork
A mineral deposit consisting of a three-dimensional network of planar to irregular veinlets closely enough spaced that the whole mass can be mined

Stope
An excavation from which ore has been removed in a series of steps. A variation of step. Usually applied to highly inclined or vertical veins

Stoping
The act of excavating rock, either above or below a level, in a series of steps

Strata-bound
Said of a mineral deposit confined to a single stratigraphic unit. The term can refer to a stratiform deposit, to variously oriented orebodies contained within the unit, or to a deposit containing veinlets and alteration zones that may or may not be strictly conformable with bedding

Strike
The course or bearing of the outcrop of an inclined bed, vein, or fault plane on a level surface; the direction of a horizontal line perpendicular to the direction of the dip

Strike-slip fault
A fault on which the movement is parallel to the fault's strike

Stripping Ratio
The unit amount of overburden that must be removed to gain access to a unit amount of ore or mineral material, generally expressed in cubic yards of overburden to raw tons of mineral material

Subduction
The process of one lithospheric plate descending beneath another

Sub-level Caving (SLC)
A stoping method in which blocks of ore are caused to cave by successively undermining panels. The ore deposit is developed by a series of sublevels spaced at vertical intervals of 5 to 30 metres or more

Swellex bolt
The Swellex is a type of rock bolt that strengthens the rock mass through a combination of friction and mechanical interlock at the rock-bolt interface

Tailings
The gangue and other refuse material resulting from the washing, concentration, or treatment of ground ore

Tailings dam/pond
One to which slurry is transported, the solids settling while the liquid may be withdrawn

TFS - Technical Feasibility Study

t/h – tonnes per hour

Thrust fault
A fault with a dip of 45 degrees or less over much of its extent, on which the hanging wall appears to have moved upward relative to the footwall

Thrusting
An overriding movement of one crustal unit over another

TMF – Tailings Management Facility

Total Ore Reserves
Represent Proved Ore Reserves plus Probable Ore Reserves

Underground (u/g)
Natural or man-made excavation under the surface of the Earth

Transfer fault
A strike-slip fault, common in mid-ocean ridge regions, in which there has been a sudden change in the form or direction of displacement

Underhand stoping
The working of a block of ore from an upper to a lower level; mining downward. The method is particularly suitable for narrow, highly inclined deposits

Uniform Conditioning
A method that estimates the tonnage and grade of mineralisation which can be extracted as small selective minable blocks from large blocks (panels), whose grade is modelled by Ordinary Kriging. Uniform Conditioning technique estimates the proportions of recoverable mineralisation in each panel without specifying the actual locations of the economically extractable blocks.

Wet milling
Comminution of ores and materials in the presence of a liquid in a suitable mill, either by rods, balls, or pebbles, or autogenously, by the material itself

Whittle
Gemcom Whittle™ software is used for pit optimisation

Wireframing
A 3D geological modelling methodology, which provides 3D visualisation of an orebody

Zn - Zinc