It’s tough to navigate the mining world without its unique language! Understanding key mining terminologies isn’t just about jargon; it’s essential for clear communication, safety, and efficiency across all operations.
Let’s dive in!
- Xenolith: A fragment of country rock enclosed in an intrusive rock.
- Yield :The current annual dividend rate expressed as a percentage of the current market price of the stock.
- Wall rocks : Rock units on either side of an orebody. The hanging wall and footwall rocks of an orebody.
- Winning : The excavation, loading, and removal of coal or ore from the ground; winning follows development.
- Winze : Secondary or tertiary vertical or near-vertical opening sunk from a point inside a mine for the purpose of connecting with a lower level or of exploring the ground for a limited depth below a level.
- Write off : Amounts deducted from a company’s reported profit for depreciation or preproduction costs. Write-offs are not an out-of-pocket expense but reduce the amount of taxable profit.
- Witness post : A claim post placed on a claim line when it cannot be placed in the corner of a claim because of water or difficult terrain.
- Wire rope :A steel wire rope used for winding in shafts and underground haulages. Wire ropes are made from medium carbon steels. Various constructions of wire rope are designated by the number of strands in the rope and the number of wires in each strand. The following are some common terms encountered: airplane strand; cable laid rope; cane rope; elevator rope; extra-flexible hoisting rope; flat rope; flattened-strand rope; guy rope; guy strand; hand rope; haulage rope; hawser; hoisting rope; lang lay rope; lay; left lay rope; left twist; non spinning rope; regular lay; reverse-laid rope; rheostat rope; right lay; right twist; running rope; special flexible hoisting rope; standing rope; towing hawser; transmission rope.
- Vug : a small to medium-size rock crevice or cavity.
- Uraninite : A uranium mineral with a high uranium oxide content. Frequently found in pegmatite dykes.
- Uranium : A radioactive, silvery-white, metallic element.
- Tailings pond : A low-lying depression used to confine tailings, the prime function of which is to allow enough time for heavy metals to settle out or for cyanide to be destroyed before water is discharged into the local watershed.
- Tailgate: A subsidiary gate road to a conveyor face as opposed to a main gate. The tailgate commonly acts as the return airway and supplies road to the face (A-Z of Mining Terms | Crux Investor, n.d.)..
Ever felt like you need a translator in the mining industry? Understanding the unique language of mining is key to clear communication and efficient operations. What’s one mining term you think everyone should know, and why?
Reference:
A-Z of Mining Terms | Crux Investor. (n.d.). Retrieved May 30, 2025, from https://www.cruxinvestor.com/pages/a-z-of-mining-terms
