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| A | Accession number | order in which specimen is acquired |
| Acidic rock | silicic rock, having high content of silica | |
| Alloy | mixture of metals | |
| Amalgamatio | recovery of cold or silver by use of mercury | |
| Arenaceous rock | rock containing sand | |
| Assay wall | mineralized rock surrounding vein | |
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| Base metal | common metal, excluding iron and its alloys | |
| Basic rock | rock having high content of iron and magnesium, low silica content | |
| Black sand | sand containing metallic minerals | |
| Breccia | rock composed of angular or broken fragments | |
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| Caliche | deposit of nitrate fertilizer in chile | |
| Cementation | deposition of mineral matter between rock fragments | |
| Clastic rock | sedimentary rock consisting of fragments, aka: detrital rock | |
| Color | particle of placer gold | |
| Concentration | separation of valuable mineral or rock from waste | |
| Country rock | unmineralized rock surrounding ore | |
| Cross cut | mine tunnel intersecting vein | |
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| Diagnostic mineral | mineral indicating the geologic environment | |
| Dike | tabular body of igneous rock cutting across older rock | |
| Dredge | a motorized pontuned unit that floats on the surface of the water. Has a suction hose that sucks up gravel from the stream bed and runs them across the sluice | |
| Drift | mine tunnel parallel to vein | |
| Dump | pile of waste rock discarded in mining | |
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| Extrusive rock | igneous rock formed upon the surface | |
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| Field classification | classification of rocks by observing them in outcrops | |
| Filler | mineral used to add desired properties to manufactured products | |
| Fineness | parts per thousand of pure gold in native metal | |
| Flotation | recovery of minerals by means of their adherence to chemical forth | |
| Flour gold | extremely fine particles of gold | |
| Flux (borax) | substance to reduce melting temperature | |
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| Gangue | waste rock in mineral deposits | |
| Gloryhole | mine combining open-cut and underground operations | |
| Gravel | loose rock coarser than sand | |
| Grubstake | supplies furnished to prospector in return for share in mineral discoveries | |
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| Hydraulicking | placer mining with jets of water | |
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| Igneous rock | rock cooled from molten magma or lava | |
| Iron cross | twin crystal of pyrite | |
| Iron hat | iron oxide outcrop on sulfide vein | |
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| Jig | equipment for recovering placer minerals | |
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| Karat | parts per 24 of pure gold in alloy | |
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| Level | horizontal tunnel in mine | |
| Lithification | change of sediment into solid rock | |
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| Milling | separation of valuable mineral or rock from waste | |
| Mohs’ scale | scale of hardness used for minerals | |
| Mother lode | principal vein system of a region | |
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| Nugget | particle of native metal usually large enough to be picked up by hand | |
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| Open cut | mine in surface opening | |
| Ore | rock or mineral deposit yielding a metal profitability | |
| Overburden | waste rock overlying mineral or rock deposit | |
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| Persistent mineral | mineral formed under various geologic conditions | |
| Pinch & swell | expansion and contraction of vein | |
| Playa lake | intermittent lake in undrained desert basin | |
| cavity in rock, sometimes containing quantities of gold | ||
| Precious metal | gold, silver, or platinum | |
| Pyroclastic rock | rock broken by volcanic explosion | |
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| Quarry | open-cut mine for extracting rock | |
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| Raise or stope | upward working from mine tunnel | |
| Refining | purification of metal | |
| Rocker | portable piece of equipment used for recovery gold in the 1800’s and today | |
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| Sedimentary rock | rock deposited as fragments or from solution | |
| Shaft | vertical or inclined entry to mine | |
| Sluice box | a trough usually 3 to 6 feet long with riffles down the center and Carpet underneath used to trap heavy metals that are shoveled into them. | |
| Smelting | reducing ore to metal in a funacs | |
| Specific gravity | relative weight of a substance compared to water | |
| Stratification | layers of sedimentary rock in layers according to size and weight | |
| Streak | color of powdered mineral | |
| Streak plate | unglazed porcelain used to test streak | |
| Strip mining | recovery of overburden and rock from flat deposit near surface | |
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| Till | unsorted glacial deposit | |
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| Vein | stringer of ore in rock | |
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| Winze | a passageway to permit downward working from mine tunnel | |
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