Flume

A wooden aqueduct for conveying water to alluvial or placer diggings.

Fhix

A substance used to promote the fusion of metal in the reduction of ore.

Footwall

The wall on the lower side of a vein.

Fork

To signify that water is drained out of a mine.

Fracture

A break or a crack.

Free Gold

Gold uncombined with other substances.

Free Milling Ore

Ore which is readily saved by amalgamation.

Friable

Easily pulverized.

Frue Vanner

A machine for concentrating ores.

Gangue

The non-metallic worthless rock in a lode.

Gash Vein

An irregular vein.

Gneiss

A stratified primary rock.

Gossan

Hydrate oxide of iron, and often an indication of favourable results.

Granulated

In the form of grains.

Hanging Wall

The wall on the upper side of a vein.

Heave

A displacements a vein or stratum.

Hornblende

A dark green mineral, exceedingly tough.

Horse

Masses of country rock in a vein.

Hungry

Barren vein matter.

Hydraulicking

Forcing down auriferous gravel by discharging water on it with great pressure through pipes.

Igneous

Bocks consolidated from a molten state.

Impregnated

Country rook impregnated with ore.

Inclination

The dip of a vein.

Incline

A slanting shaft.

Jigger

An apparatus for separating ores.

Jumping A Claim

Taking possession of a claim which has been abandoned, or which has been forfeited through non-fulfilment of legal conditions.

Junction

The union of two or more veins.

Killas

Clay slate.

Kindly

A tract of country or reef which has a promising appearance.

Leaching

The extraction of metal salts from ores by means of a solvent.

Leader

A small lode running into a larger one.

Levels

Tunnels driven into a mine.

Locate

To mark out the boundaries of a mining property.

Lode

A metalliferous vein, having well-defined walls.

Malachite

Carbonate of copper.

Matrix

The barren rock, or gangue, containing metalliferous ores.

Matte

The result of the first incomplete reduction of ore.

Metalliferous

Containing metal or ore.

Metamorphic Rocks

Bocks which have been changed from their original condition.

Mill

Works for treating ore by other means than smelting.

Mortar

The receptacle in which ore is crushed.

Mother Lode

The principal lode running through a section of country.

Mynpacht

That portion of a farm which, on the farm being declared a public gold-field, the freeholder has a right to take up for himself.

Nugget

A large solid mass of gold.

Open East

When the lode outcrops on the surface, and is taken out without sinking a shaft.

Open Cut

A working or excavation open from the surface.

Ore

A mineral compound from which metal is extracted.

Outcrop

Farts of the vein which appear on the surface or close to the surface.

Output

The production of ore from a mine.

Oxide

Any element or metal combined with oxygen.

Panning

To wash earth or gravel or crushed rock in a pan in order to obtain the particles of gold.

Pay Dirt

Auriferous gravel rich enough to pay for washing and working.

Pay Streak

The rich part of a mineral vein.

Petering

The pinching out of a vein.

Pillar

Part of a lode left standing as a support.

Plant

The machinery of a mine.

Pocket

A mass or patch of rich ore in a vein, and generally of small extent.

Precipitate

A solid substance separated from the solution by chemical decomposition.

Prospecting

Searching for mineral lodes or deposits.

Pulverize

To crush to powder.

Pyrites

A sulphuret of iron.

Quartz

Vein stuff largely associated with ores.

Quartzite

An altered sandstone in which the grains of sand have been cemented by silica.

Reagent

A substance employed to precipitate some other substance by the mutual reaction of one towards the other.

Reduce

To separate metals from their ores.

Reef

A lode or vein of mineral.

Refining

Purifying crude metallic products.

Refractory Ores

Ores which are difficult to treat.

Reserves

The rock left standing in a mine.

Rock-Breaker

A machine for breaking rock into small pieces.

Rock-Drill

A machine for boring holes in rock, and generally worked by compressed air.

Run Of A Lode

The course or direction of a lode.

Salting

Placing rich ore in a mine for deceptive purposes.

Schist

A micaceous clay slate.

Seam

A bed of coal.

Sett

A certain portion of ground in which mines are situated.

Setts

Timbers placed in a mine to support excavations.

Shaft

A deep pit or opening sunk from the surface, and by means of which the mine is developed and worked.

Shale

A variety of slate.

Shelf

A ledge of rock upon which drift rests.

Slide

A small fault or disturbance in the lode.

Slimes

Ore finely crushed and pulverized into pulp.

Sluicing

Washing auriferous sand through long boxes, or sluices, as they are called.

Smelting

The process of extracting metal from their ores by fusion.

Spur

A small vein leaving the main lode, but not returning to it.

Stamps

Heavy pestles for pulverizing quartz.

Stamp-Mill

An upright frame containing stamps, mortars, screens, inclined tables, and other accessories.

Stope

The workings in a mine between levels, from which ore is taken in a series of steps.

Stoping

Breaking ore in a section of ground above, below, or between levels. Breaking ore overhead in a level is called 'overhand stoping,' and breaking ore under the feet in a level is called 'underhand stoping.'

String Of Ore

A thin course of ore.

Sulphurets

A combination of sulphur with a metal.

Sump

A pit sunk at the bottom of a mine to collect water.

Sump Shaft

The engine shaft.

Synclinal

The axis of a depression. A term signifying that from a given line the strata dip as though bent by pressure.

Tailings

The refuse which after the ore has been treated in a mill still contains valuable particles of metal.

Tail-Race

The channel through which the tailings, suspended in water, are carried from the mill.

Telluride

A metal of many combinations, and often exceedingly rich in gold or silver.

Tinstone

Ore containing small grains of oxide of tin.

Timstuff

Ore obtained from a tin lode.

Trace

To follow the course of a vein by surface indications.

Trend

The course or direction of a vein.

Tributors

Miners who work a section of ground in a mine, and pay a percentage on the ore they obtain.

Tutwork

Sinking shafts, driving levels and cross-cuts by contract, and paid for at so much per foot or fathom.

Underlie

The dip of a vein on its departure from the vertical.

Upcast

The opening up which the ventilating air passes out of a mine.

Upraise

To excavate or open upwards.

Vanner

A concentrating machine.

Vein

Synonymous with lode or reef.

Wall Rock

Barren rock from the sides or boundaries of a vein.

Wash Dirt

Auriferous gravel.

Water Level

The level at which water is drained from a mine.

Wheal

The Cornish name for a mine.

Whim

A rotary machine for hoisting ore to the shaft.

Winch

A windlass.

Winze

A shaft which connects levels in a mine, but which does not reach the surface.

Workings

The developments in a mine, such as levels, drifts, stopes, cross-cuts, tunnels, etc.