activator
An agent that enables the flotation of a mineral or minerals.
Mining and extraction
591 entries in this trade.
afterdamp
Suffocating gases present in a coal mine after an explosion caused by firedamp, consisting of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen, and sometimes hydrogen sulfide.
air-head
A horizontal channel providing ventilation in a mine.
airleave
An easement consisting of the right granted to a miner to ventilate onto a property.
airway
A roadway used for ventilation.
alginite
A component of some types of kerogen, consisting of organic-walled marine microfossils.
allochem
a grain of rock in a carbonate rock
analcitic
adjectiveMining and extraction
Containing or pertaining to analcite.
anchimonomineral
adjectiveMining and extraction
Composed almost entirely of one mineral.
antecryst
A crystal formed from an earlier phase of the magmatic system, different from later forming crystals.
apex
The highest or the greatest part of something, especially forming a point.
aphanite
Certain dark igneous rocks having grain so fine that the individual crystals cannot be seen with the naked eye.
aphanitic
adjectiveMining and extraction
Pertaining to aphanites, igneous rocks composed of microscopic mineral crystals (fine grains too small to be visible to the naked eye.
aromatization
The conversion of aliphatic components of petroleum into aromatic compounds as part of the refining process.
asphaltane
polyaromatic compounds left from distillation of crude oil that are insoluble in pentane.
attle
Rubbish or refuse consisting of broken rock inholding little or no ore; especially, the worthless rock left over once the ore has been selected.
auget
A priming tube connecting the charge chamber with the gallery, or place where the slow match is applied.
autocryst
A crystal formed from the same melt as the volcanic rock which hosts it.
azogue
Silver ores suitable for treatment by amalgamation with mercury.
back
The roof of a horizontal underground passage.
back-overman
A person employed to superintend the pit during the "back" or afternoon shift, in the absence of the overman.
bailiff
The foreman or overman of a mine.
ball vein
A sort of iron ore, found in loose masses of a globular form, containing sparkling particles.
bandsman
A labourer (loader) working with a band of men.
banjo
A miner's round-nosed shovel.
bank
The face of the coal at which miners are working.
bar down
To loosen mined ore in a cart using a bar in order to enable it to move through a chute.
barring
Timber used for supporting the roof or sides of shafts.
barrow
A heap of rubbish, attle, or other such refuse.
barrowman
A putter: one who puts the tubs of coal from the workings to the cranes, flats, or stations, so that they can be conveyed to the surface.
basseting
The upward direction of a vein in a mine.
beamwork
A tin working where the lode was followed by digging down from the surface.
bedrock
The solid rock found at some depth below the ground surface.
beeline
A dynamite fuse made with a small quantity of dynamite powder along its length, so that the spark travels quickly and at a specific known rate.
beneficiate
To reduce (ores or other raw materials)
berm
One of the flat terraces on the slope of an open-pit mine.
biolith
A rock or other geological feature formed by living organisms.
bituminosulfonate
An anion found in ammonium bituminosulfonate (ichthammol), obtained by dry distillation of oil shale and subsequent sulfonation.
black sand
Sand high in magnetite and other iron-rich ferrous minerals, frequently found associated with placer mining.
black tin
Tin ore (cassiterite), when dressed, stamped and washed, ready for smelting. It is in the form of a black powder, like fine sand.
blind level
A level or drainage gallery which has a vertical shaft at each end, and acts as an inverted siphon.
blower
A fissure from which firedamp issues, often in quantity for many years.
bluecap
A tiny blue-skinned fairy that inhabits a mine and helps the miners.
bonanza
A rich mine or vein of silver or gold.
bord
The coalface parallel to the natural fissures.
borrasca
A mine that is no longer producing profitably.
bottomer
A person employed to attend to the bottom of the shaft.
brakeman
A person employed to work the steam engine or other machinery that raises the coal from the mine.
brat
A thin bed of coal mixed with pyrites or carbonate of lime.
brattice
A partition in a coal mine, made from wood or from canvas sheeting coated in tar.
bratticer
A worker who erects brattices.
breccia
A rock composed of angular fragments in a matrix that may be of a similar or a different material.
brood
Heavy waste in tin and copper ores.
brow
A gallery in a coal mine running across the face of the coal.
browman
The worker in charge of the cages at the pithead.
brusher
A person employed to cut or blast the roof or floor of a roadway and so give more height.
BTX
Initialism of (mixture of) benzene, toluene, and xylenes.
bump
A sudden movement of underground strata, preceded by a characteristic sound.
bunch
An unusual concentration of ore in a lode or a small, discontinuous occurrence or patch of ore in the wallrock.
bunny
A sudden enlargement or mass of ore, as opposed to a vein or lode.