In metal mining, a person who, with a cable drill rig, drills down through
gravel to bedrock along a present or an old creek bed that usually has
been prospected by a hand-dug hole. The panner saves the drillings and
pans them to discover the possible presence of paydirt (gold-bearing
gravel), and weighs gold particles recovered. In the event of the
discovery of gold in quantities sufficient for profitable removal, the
panner moves drill and continues operations to determine the boundaries of
the gold-bearing strata. DOT
See:prospect tunnel
a. The search for outcrops or surface exposure of mineral deposits.
b. Searching for new deposits; also, preliminary explorations to test the
value of lodes or placers already known to exist.
c. The surface discovery of coal or mineral only proves its superficial
existence and further work is necessary to establish its quality and
extent. The term exploration is sometimes applied to this extension of the
discovery work. See also:exploration
Generic terms which include the whole mode of obtaining metals and
minerals. Ricketts
Aust. A claim larger than the average; allotted to the miner who is the
first in a district to discover the presence of gold. Standard, 2
A simple appliance used in the search for gold and other heavy minerals.
By means of water washing, the lighter, worthless material is separated
from the valuable, heavier minerals, which are made visible by
concentration and retention in the dish. Standard dishes with sloping
sides are made in sizes ranging from top diameter 10 to 18 in (25 to 46
cm) and from 2 to 4 in (5 to 10 cm) deep, with riffles or grooves to
retain the heavy minerals. Syn:pan
Authorization granted by a government to an individual in some countries,
permitting the person to prospect for minerals and to register (stake) a
claim. Pryor, 3
See:pan
Ore that cannot be included as proved or probable, nor definitely known or
stated in terms of tonnage. See also:possible ore; ore expectant.
A person engaged in exploring for valuable minerals or in testing supposed
discoveries of the same.
A shaft sunk in connection with prospecting operations. Craigie
A tunnel or entry driven through barren measures, or a fault, to ascertain
the character of strata beyond. Syn:prospect entry
A preliminary printed statement describing a business or other enterprise,
and distributed to prospective buyers, investors, or participants, giving
detailed information concerning the company's business and financial
standing. Common in mining.
Electromagnet or permanent magnet installed ahead of crushing machinery to
remove tramp iron that otherwise might enter and damage the appliances.
Pryor, 3
A screen plate with large apertures mounted over the screening deck in
order to reduce the load and wear thereon. BS, 5
In the cyanide process, the use of dissolved lime to maintain a slightly
alkaline pulp, therefore ensuring that the cyanide salt retains its
potency and does not acidify to hydrocyanic acid, which cannot dissolve
gold or silver. See also:cyanide process
Lime added to auriferous pulp to ensure alkalinity. Important in the
cyanidation process for precious metals. Pryor, 1
An objection to the patent proceeding; when made, it calls for a hearing
on the matter in the local land office. Lewis
A name for a series of artificial orthorhombic fluoramphiboles having only
half the a-dimension of anthophyllite. The presence of lithium and absence
of calcium appear to be essential to their formation. Named because of a
structural relation to protoenstatite. Hey, 2
Leith's term for a rock possessing what he considered to be primary
cleavage; e.g., bedding planes in sedimentary rock, formed concurrently
with the rock. CF:metaclase
a. Said of igneous rocks in which the earlier formed crystals have been
broken or deformed because of differential flow of the magma before
complete solidification. AGI
b. Said of an igneous rock containing deformed xenocrysts. AGI
c. Said of the texture characteristic of an early stage of cataclasis,
with a very small amount of finite strain. AGI