• Assay – A chemical test used to determine the amount of valuable metal in a sample
  • Back – The ceiling or roof of an underground area
  • Blasthole – A hole drilled into the blasting face that is filled with explosives
  • Blasting Cap – A small explosive device that is used together with fuses to set off a larger explosion
  • Blasting Powder – A mixture of ammonium nitrate and diesel fuel
  • Cage – Part of the transportation system that moves people and equipment up and down the mine shaft
  • Claim – The land held by a prospector or mining company
  • Cupel – A shallow cup-like container that is used in assaying
  • Cut – The set of blastholes that get detonated first, creating space for the remaining rock to expand 
  • Dore – Gold and silver alloy bars created at mines
  • Drift – A horizontal tunnel that follows the orebody, giving access to the deposit
  • Drill Core – The long cylinder of rock produced by diamond drilling
  • Face – The end of a stope or drift where work takes place
  • Fit Test – A test to see if a mine employee is capable of wearing a respirator
  • Grade – The amount of gold found within a tonne of ore
  • Grizzly – The grating over the ore chute that catches large pieces of rock 
  • Headframe – The structure over a mine shaft that holds the cables, pulleys and sheaves of the hoist
  • Hoist – The machine used to raise and lower the cage and skip
  • Industrial Hygiene – The science of protecting and enhancing the health and safety of workers
  • Level – The tunnels that lead away from the mine shaft - Levels are cut out at regular intervals (i.e.: every 150 metres)
  • Lifters – The last set of blastholes to be detonated, lifting and breaking up the rock being blasted
  • Lode Gold - A gold deposit within a solid rock - need to use hard rock mining techniques to extract
  • Long Tom – An early form of the drilling jumbo that allowed underground miners to decrease drill times and limit their exposure to vibration
  • Muck – Ore or rock that has been broken by blasting
  • Open pit – A mine that is entirely on the surface
  • Ore – A mixture of rock and valuable minerals that can be mined
  • Portage – The practice of carrying a boat and/or its cargo between two bodies of water
  • Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) – The clothing and accessories that keep workers safe from infection and injury - i.e.: goggles, gloves, coveralls, boots and helmets
  • Placer Gold - A lode deposit that has been eroded over time and has settled within a waterbed - recovery methods include panning for gold
  • Prospecting – The search for mineral deposits
  • Raise – A vertical tunnel that is driven between two levels of a mine
  • Refining – Processes used to remove unwanted minerals from the gold
  • Rock Bolt – A long steel rod used for stabilizing the back and walls of an underground tunnel
  • Rock Breaker – A machine used to break up large rocks that are caught in the grizzly
  • Rock Burst – A sudden, violent collapse of rock that was under stress
  • Sample – A portion of rock or mineral deposit that is tested for mineral content
  • Scaling – The removal of loose rocks from the walls and back before drilling
  • Scooptram – A large industrial machine used for mucking
  • Shaft – A deep narrow vertical hole that gives access to a mine
  • Skip – The bucket that is used to bring ore or waste up the mine shaft
  • Slusher – A scraper attached to a small winch or hoist
  • Steel – An alternative name for a drill bit
  • Stenching – An emergency alert system used in mines - stench gas (smells like rotten eggs) is put in the fresh air vents of the mine, notifying workers of a fire
  • Stope – The area between two mine levels, where mining takes place
  • Tailings – The waste material after the milling process
  • Tailings Pond – A part of a mine’s waste management system where tailings are pumped and sediment settles before the water is discharged
  • Transit – A surveying instrument used for measuring angles
  • Troy Ounce – A unit of measurement used for weighing precious metals - a troy ounce is heavier than a regular ounce weighing 31.1 grams versus 28.35 grams
  • Vein – A crack or fault in a rock where minerals like gold have settled
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Assay lab at Howey Gold Mines
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Open pit at Howey Gold Mines, 1952
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Peter Andrecheck looking down from a raise, 1959
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A miner drilling in a stope underground at McKenzie Red Lake Gold Mines, 1953