Mining technology glossary
Mining technology glossary
20 terms
In the future, I will be a geologist this is why I'm studying in mineral technology. My glossary could be useful to someone that starts in the industry but does not know all the terms that we use in the mine that are really specifics.
- Alloy
- A compound of two or more metals
- Blaster
- A person qualified to handle and use explosives for breaking rock
- Claim
- A portion of land held either by a prospector or a mining company
- Diamond
- The hardest known mineral, composed of pure carbon
- Dump
- A pile of broken rock or ore on the surface
- Exploration
- The search for mineral deposits and the work done to prove or establish the extent of a mineral deposit.
- Explosives
- Substances used in mining to break rock by the energy released upon detonation.
- Ferrous
- Containing iron.
- Fracture
- A break in the rock, the opening of which allows mineral-bearing solutions to enter.
- Geology
- The science concerned with the study of the rocks which compose the Earth.
- Grind
- The process of reducing rock to fine particles.
- Jig
- A machine that separates particles within an ore body based on their relative movement in response to gravity and other forces.
- Mine
- An excavation in the earth for extracting coal or other minerals.
- Mining
- The process of digging rocks out of the earth.
- Open pit
- - A surface mining technique where the mine is entirely on the surface.
- Prospecting
- The search for mineral deposits suitable for mining.
- Pump
- A device for moving fluid by suction pressure or both.
- Sampling
- Selecting a fractional but representative part of a mineral deposit for analysis.
- Underground mine
- Also known as a "deep" mine, usually located several hundred feet below the earth's surface, where coal is removed mechanically and transferred to the surface.
- Vein
- A fissure, fault, or crack in a rock filled by minerals that have traveled upwards from some deep source.