This glossary contains the words people can use when they describe concepts related to the mining industry.
blast
verb
Blow up or break apart (something solid) with explosives.
Example: Quantities of solid rock had to be blasted away.
fr: dynamitage
diamond drilling
noun
A high-precision, rotary, and non-percussive drilling method that utilizes a drill bit embedded with industrial diamonds to cut through exceptionally hard materials, such as rock, reinforced concrete, and metal.
Example: The exploration team used diamond drilling to collect core samples and evaluate the mineralization at depth.
fr: forage au diamant
drilling
noun
The action of making a hole in something by boring with a drill.
Example: It is assumed that the average person operating the drill would weigh about 80kg, and could feasibly apply 50% of this body weight to the drill if they were DRILLING downwards.
fr: Forer
foot wall
noun
The block of rock that lies beneath an inclined fault plane or beneath an inclined ore vein/mineral deposit.
Example: The geologist mapped the fault and noted that the footwall consisted mainly of quartz-rich rock.
fr: éponte inférieure
gangue
noun
The non-valuable mineral material that is physically mixed with or surrounds valuable minerals in the ore.
Example: In a gold deposit, quartz and calcite may form the gangue around the gold.
fr: gangue
hanging wall
noun
The block of rock that lies above an inclined fault or an ore body.
Example: The miners drilled into the hanging wall to stabilize the rock above the ore body.
fr: éponte supérieure
mine
noun
An excavation in the earth for extracting coal or other minerals.
Example: A copper mine.
fr: mine
mineral
noun
A solid chemical element or compound (as diamond or quartz) that occurs naturally in the form of crystals and results from inorganic processes.
Example: This MINERAL forms in reducing conditions in marine environments in the presence of sulfates.
fr: minéral
mucking
noun
The process of loading and removing broken rock, ore, or debris (known as "muck") from underground tunnels, shafts, or open pits after blasting.
Example: Mucking began immediately after ventilation cleared the fumes.
fr: muck
open pit mine
noun
Surface excavations that remain open during mining activities, used to extract ores and minerals near the surface by removing overburden and subsequently breaking and loading the ore. This method is commonly employed for mining thick, steeply inclined coalbeds and various metal ores, including copper, gold, iron, and aluminum.
Example: The company plans to expand the open pit mine to increase copper production over the next five years.
fr: mine à ciel ouvert
ore
noun
A naturally occurring solid material from which a metal or valuable mineral can be profitably extracted.
Example: Copper ORE deposits are also known from other sources in the Mediterranean, including Sardinia (Gale 1991: 201) and East Attica, an important source in the Aegean (Catling 1991: 9).
fr: minerai
ore body
noun
A natural, three-dimensional concentration of minerals within the Earth's crust.
Example: The engineers designed the open pit around the main ore body to maximize metal recovery.
fr: gîte minéralisé
ore deposit
noun
A naturally occurring concentration of minerals that has been demonstrated to be economically exploitable.
Example: The method allowed economical extraction of the large low-grade ore deposit.
fr: gisement
ore vein
noun
A tabular or sheet-like mineral deposit that forms when mineral-rich hydrothermal fluids fill pre-existing fractures, faults, or fissures within host rock.
Example: The miners followed the ore vein deep into the mountain to extract the gold.
fr: veine de minerai
skip
noun
A specialized, large metal container used in vertical shafts to hoist ore, waste rock, or minerals from underground workings to the surface.
Example: The broken rock was loaded into a skip and hoisted to the surface through the shaft.
fr: skip
tailings
noun
The materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction (gangue) of an ore.
Example: The tailings were stored in a large containment pond after the valuable minerals were extracted.
fr: résidus miniers
underground mine
noun
a facility that extracts minerals (like gold, coal, diamonds, copper) by digging tunnels and shafts deep below the Earth's surface, used when deposits are too deep for surface mining.
Example: This is particularly the case on the route down to the underground mine and it may be necessary to install steps with proper handrails.
fr: mine souterraine
valuable element
noun
The chemical element inside a valuable mineral that is economically desired and extracted because it has commercial value.
Example: In galena, lead (Pb) is the valuable element inside the valuable mineral.
fr: substance (élément) utile
valuable mineral
noun
The economically useful mineral within an ore deposit.
Example: The geologist identified chalcopyrite as the valuable mineral within the ore body.
fr: minéral utile
waste
noun
Rock removed to access the ore that contains no valuable minerals.
Example: The company had to move large amounts of waste before reaching the ore deposit.
