Glossary | | |
“AAS” means atomic absorption spectroscopy;“alteration” means any physical or chemical change in a rock or mineral subsequent to its formation;“ankerite” means a calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese carbonate mineral with formula: Ca(Fe, Mg, Mn)(CO3)2;“Archean” means the earlier part of Precambrian time, or the period in the Earth's history from its formation to 600 million years ago;“assay” means the analysis of minerals and mine products to determine the concentration of their components;“assemblage” means a particular grouping of rock types;“Au” means gold;“auriferous” mean containing gold;“banded iron formation” or “BIF” means, on the Pickle Crow Property, a rock of banded appearance made up of numerous reddish layers of carbonate (typically siderite, ferro-dolomite, calcite or ankerite), and lesser light coloured silica-rich (cherty) layers, alternating with dark-colored layers of iron-rich minerals, principally magnetite and lesser pyrrhotite, deposited in a marine back-arc to emergent-arc environment prior to 2.86 Ga;“basalt” means the commonest type of solidified lava; a dense, dark grey, fine-grained igneous rock composed chiefly of plagioclase feldspar and pyroxene;“batholith” means a discordant pluton that increases in size downward, has no determinable floor, and shows an area of surface exposure exceeding 100 km2;“bedrock” means un-weathered rock below the soil; solid rock;“calcite” means a calcium carbonate mineral with the chemical formula of CaCO3;“carbonate” means a mineral containing CO3;“chert” means a hard, dense microcrystalline sedimentary rock, consisting chiefly of interlocking microscopic crystals of quartz;“chlorite” means a dark-green iron-magnesium-aluminum rich mica mineral, an alteration mineral usually formed during metamorphism at low temperatures and pressures;“core drilling” means drilling that uses hollow diamond-studded drill bits on the end of the drill stem to produce lengths of cylindrical rock of varying diameter. It has the advantage over other drilling methods of producing a solid core sample of the rock the drill has passed through, rather than chips, enabling more accurate determination and characterization of rock types, mineralization, and structures encountered, and their orientations in three dimensions;“craton” means a stable (non-tectonic) portion of continental crust which is typically composed of very old rocks, typically PreCambrian in age;“deformation” means the folding and faulting of rocks as a result of various geological forces;“diamond drilling” means drilling with diamond-tipped drill bits, as per “core drilling”, above;“dip” means direction or angle that the plane of a rock formation makes with the horizontal;“diluted” means a volume of ore that has been mixed with volumes of surrounding rocks that carry low (or no) values of the metal(s) sought, thus diluting the overall grade of the ore extracted. At least some dilution is frequently unavoidable in mining operations, and may in fact be necessary to extract very narrow orebodies. Therefore, the diluted grade is the more relevant one from a mining perspective vis-à-vis the in-situ grade;“dolomite” means a magnesium carbonate with chemical formula CaMg (CO3)2;“drift” means a horizontal underground passage used to access different areas of an underground mine. Also known as a ‘level’;“dyke” means a sheet-like body of igneous rock cutting across bedding planes of rock;“facies” means a part of a rock body differentiated from other parts by appearance or composition. It can refer to one part of a rock body, different kinds of rocks, or stratigraphic bodies; “fire assay” means an analytical smelting procedure for determining the precious metal content in rock and mine products;“fold” means a rock unit or package of rocks that has been folded due to pressure from geological forces;“Ga” means billions of years;“g/t” means grams per tonne (grams per 1000 kilograms);“grade” means the element or metal content per unit of material;“granitoid” means of granitic nature, i.e. a light-colored, coarse-grained igneous rock composed of quartz, orthoclase and hornblende, formed by cooling of silica-rich magma below the surface of the earth;“gravity process” means the physical process of separating minerals from waste rock using their natural differences in specific gravity;“greenschist” means a general field petrologic term applied to metamorphic and/or altered mafic volcanic rock;“greenstone” means, on the Pickle Crow Property, basalt of Precambrian age that has been subjected to low temperature and pressure metamorphism. The resulting rock has a pronounced greenish color due to the presence of chlorite (a dark green mica), actinolite, sericite, and epidote (a yellowish-green mineral) which developed during metamorphism;“greenstone belt” means a zone of metamorphosed mafic to ultramafic volcanic sequences with associated sedimentary rocks that occur within Archaean and Proterozoic cratons between granite and gneiss bodies. Much of the world’s gold is hosted by, and produced from, greenstone belts;“ha” means hectare;“Indicated Resource” means that part of a Mineral Resource for which quantity, grade or quality, densities, shape and physical characteristics, can be estimated with a level of confidence sufficient to allow the appropriate application of technical and economic parameters, to support mine planning and evaluation of the economic viability of the deposit. The estimate is based on detailed and reliable exploration and testing information gathered through appropriate techniques from locations such as outcrops, trenches, pits, workings and drill holes that are spaced closely enough for geological and grade continuity to be reasonably assumed;“Inferred Resource” means that part of a Mineral Resource for which quantity and grade or quality can be estimated on the basis of geological evidence and limited sampling and reasonably assumed, but not verified, geological and grade continuity. The estimate is based on limited information and sampling gathered through appropriate techniques from locations such as outcrops, trenches, pits, workings and drill holes. As an Inferred Resource is not a Mineral Reserve, it does not, as such, demonstrate economic viability;“in situ” means a body of mineralization or zone of ore as it sits "in place" and in its original position within the host rock. An in situ grade refers to a grade that has been calculated without factoring in any dilution that may be necessary to extract the ore from its in situ position;“intercalated” means interbedded or interwoven;“intrusive” means a volume of igneous rock that was injected, while still molten, into the earth’s crust of into other rocks;“iron formation” means “banded iron formation”, as defined above;“km” means kilometres;“lava” means rock that in its molten form (as magma) issues from volcanos or fissures. Magma that has reached the surface;“leasehold” means the Corporation’s right to possess, use, explore, and extract minerals or metals from the Pickle Crow Property for a fixed period of time;“level” means ‘drift’, as defined above;“lode” means the occurrence of mineralization or a mineral deposit within solid rock (bedrock);“log” means the paper or electronic record of rock types and other geological and geotechnical information encountered during the drilling of a drill hole;“low sulphide” means rock, mineralization or ore containing volumetrically low amounts of sulphur mineral compounds;“mafic” means a term used to describe a dark colored rock or magma composed chiefly of iron and magnesium-rich minerals;“m” means metres;“Ma” means millions of years;“magmatic” means molten rock material formed within the Earth’s crust;“magnetite” means an ore mineral of iron which is an iron oxide (Fe3O4). It is black in color and is strongly magnetic;“massive” means any rock that has a homogeneous texture or fabric over a wide area, with an absence of layering, foliation, cleavage, or any similar directional structure;“Measured Resource” means that part of a Mineral Resource for which quantity, grade or quality, densities, shape, and physical characteristics are so well established that they can be estimated with confidence sufficient to allow the appropriate application of technical and economic parameters, to support production planning and evaluation of the economic viability of the deposit. The estimate is based on detailed and reliable exploration, sampling and testing information gathered through appropriate techniques from locations such as outcrops, trenches, pits, workings and drill holes that are spaced closely enough to confirm both geological and grade continuity;“mesothermal” means a term applied to intermediate temperature (eg. 200° C - 300° C) hydrothermal processes;“metallurgical studies” means studies pertaining to the physical and chemical properties and behaviour under varying conditions of rocks, minerals, mineralization and ore, their metallic elements and intermetallic compounds, and their mixtures (alloys), and the processes required to optimize the extraction of particular metals;“metamorphism” means the processes by which changes are brought about in rocks within the Earth’s crust through heat, pressure and chemically active fluids;“mill” means to grind ore such that particle sizes are reduced. The word may also refer in the mining business to a minesite plant containing equipment and processes designed to treat ore from the mine in such a way that the contained metals are extracted;“mineral” means a naturally occurring inorganic substance typically with a crystalline structure;“Mineral Reserve” means the economically mineable part of a Measured or Indicated Mineral Resource demonstrated by at least a preliminary feasibility study. This study must include adequate information on mining, processing, metallurgical, economic and other relevant factors that demonstrate, at the time of reporting, that economic extraction can be justified. A Mineral Reserve includes diluting materials and allowances for losses that may occur when the material is mined;“Mineral Resource” means a concentration or occurrence of natural, solid, inorganic or fossilized organic material in or on the Earth’s crust in such form and quantity and of such a grade or quality that it has reasonable prospects for economic extraction. The location, quantity, grade, geological characteristics and continuity of a Mineral Resource are known, estimated or interpreted from specific geological evidence and knowledge;“mineralization” means rock that is mineral-bearing, these minerals potentially containing, or found in association with, metals of value;“NI 43-101” means National Instrument 43-101 – Standards for Disclosure for Mineral Projects, adopted by the Canadian Securities Administrators;“NSR” means net smelter return royalty;“ore” means a mineral or rock that can be extracted economically;“ore body” means a mass of ore with defined geometry;“outcrop” means a rock unit exposed on surface;“patented mining claim” means, in Ontario, mining claims that do not have assessment work expenditures or reporting requirements. These claims remain in good standing as long as applicable taxes are paid to the local municipality;“ppb” mean ‘parts per billion’;“plan” means ‘plan view’, that is, a drawing or map that renders a view of an area, whether surface or underground, as draw from an overhead perspective;“plunge” means the inclination of a fold axis or ore shoot, measured in the vertical plane;“plutonic” means pertaining to igneous rock formed at great depth. A plutonic rock is coarse-grained due to slow cooling underground;“porphyry” means a medium to coarse-grained intrusive (generally felsic) igneous rock that contains conspicuous mineral crystals that are coarser-grained than the groundmass;“prefeasibility study” (PFS) means a preliminary assessment of the economic viability of mining a deposit. A PFS forms the basis for justifying further investigations including a full Feasibility Study. It usually follows a successful exploration campaign, and summarizes all geological, engineering, environmental, legal and economic information accumulated to date on the project;“pyrrhotite” means an iron sulfide mineral with a variable iron content and the formula FeS. It is weakly magnetic;“pyrite” means an iron sulphide mineral with chemical formula FeS2;“rake” means the angle of plunge measured in the vertical plane, of a vein, ore shoot, or fold axis;“reserve” means “Mineral Reserve”, as defined above;“resource” means “Mineral Resource”, as defined above;“section” means a drawing or view, taken in the vertical plane, through a body of rock;“SEDAR” means the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval accessible at www.sedar.com;“sericite” means a a fine grained mica mineral, a common alteration product of orthoclase or plagioclase;“shaft” means a vertical or inclined excavation in rock or consolidated material for the purpose of providing access to an ore body;“shear” means a zone of deformation caused by sliding of one layer of rock across another, with deformation and fracturing in the direction parallel to the movement;“siderite” means an iron carbonate mineral with the chemical formula FeCO3. On the Pickle Crow Property, a common constituent of the banded iron (magnetite-carbonate) formation;“stock” means a body of coarsely crystalline igneous rock of deep plutonic origins;“stope” means a void created by extracting ore underground. At the Pickle Crow gold mine, the stopes were created by the removal of steeply inclined vein material, with access gained by developments (levels, drifts) above and below each stope;“stratigraphic” means the spatial ordering of geological layers or rock strata;“strike” means the horizontal level direction or bearing of an inclined rock bed, structure, vein or stratum surface. The direction is perpendicular to the direction of dip;“stringer” means a mineral veinlet or filament, usually one of a number, occurring in a discontinuous subparallel pattern in host rock;“structure” means the faults, shear zones and folds in a body of rock and their interplay, along with the geological forces that gave rise to them. At the Pickle Crow gold mine, structure has been crucial to the localization of orebodies;“sulphide” means a mineral in which the element sulphur is in combination with one or more metallic elements;“supracrustal” means basement rocks metamorphosed from sedimentary and volcanic rocks;“tailings” means the finely ground material that remains after all economically recoverable metals or minerals of economic interest has been removed from the ore through milling and processing. Tailings may or may not contain economically recoverable metals or minerals;“tectonic” means the geological forces and processes by which rocks are deformed and that produces features of the earth's crust;“unconformably” means a discontinuity in the time depositional sequence of rocks, containing a gap in the geologic record. A buried erosion surface;“vein” means a fissure, fault or crack in host rock, of varying dimensions, filled by minerals that have travelled upwards from a deeper source. Historically, production at the Pickle Crow gold mine was from narrow high grade veins;“veinlet” means a narrow, fine stringer or filament of mineral (metal) that occurs in a discontinuous pattern in the host rock;“volcanic” means extrusive igneous rock that has been produced by eruption and rapidly cooled and solidified on or near the earth's surface;“volcaniclastic” means rocks consisting of volcanic fragments or sediments;“wall rock” means rock immediately adjacent to a vein or fault;“workings” means the entire system of underground openings in a mine (levels, shafts, stopes, etc.) used for the purpose of accessing and extracting orebodies; and“zone” means a volume of rock that is mineralized, or encompasses a particular feature, such as a fault, shear or orebody. | | |
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