B

The ceiling or roof of an underground opening.

 

Rock chips collected from the roof or back of an underground opening for the purpose of determining grade.

 

Parallel to the top or bottom of a crystal.

 

An extrusive volcanic rock composed primarily of plagioclase, pyroxene and minor olivine.

 

Any non-precious metal (eg. copper, lead, zinc, nickel, etc.).

 

Where the crystals of a mineral grow up from a matrix and thus only one termination pyramid is present.

 

Natural or man-made step-like terrace.

 

The degree of double refraction in a crystal.

 

The cutting end of a drill frequently made of an ultra-hard material such as industrial diamonds or tungsten carbide.

 

A miner's term for sphalerite or zinc blend.

 

Flat expanded crystals that are shaped like a knife blade or blades of grass or leaves.

 

An inexpensive method of mining in which large blocks of ore are undercut, causing the ore to break or cave under its own weight.

 

Minerals containing the borate (BO₃) radical as a major component.

 

Aggregates of interlocking rounded masses that have the form of a bunch of grapes.

 

A short raise or opening driven above a drift for the purpose of drawing ore from a stope, or to permit access.

 

Mine timber; also platform over mouth of vertical shaft.

 

The 14 lattices (3-D space lattices) that represent the only ways to periodically repeat points in three dimensions

 

A penetration twin that results from transformation.

 

A loose term used to describe a large scale regional shear zone or structural fault.

 

Easily broken or fractured.

 

Partition erected to seal off certain portions of mines.

 

Any large-scale, mechanized method of mining involving many thousands of tonnes of ore being brought to surface per day by a relatively few number of miners.

 

A large sample of mineralization, frequently involving hundreds of tonnes, selected in such a manner as to be representative of the potential orebody being sampled. Used to determine metallurgical characteristics.

 

A prospector's term describing white, coarse-grained, barren quartz.

 

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