A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

B

Back      The ceiling or roof of an underground opening.

Back sample      Rock chips collected from the roof or back of an underground opening for the purpose of determining grade.

Backfill      Waste material used to fill the void created by mining an orebody.

Background      Minor amounts of radioactivity, shown on a counter, that are due not to abnormal amounts of radioactive minerals nearby, but to cosmic rays and minor residual radioactivity in the vicinity.

Backwardation      A situation when the cash or spot price of a metal stands at a premium over the price of the metal for delivery at a forward date.

Backwash      Water movement against the primary direction of flow.

Bacterial leaching / bio-oxidation      The use of bacteria to oxidise sulphide minerals

Baffle      A partition or grating in a furnace, container or channel.

Bailer      Device for removing sludge and water from a drill hole or mine.

Balance sheet      A formal statement of the financial position of a company on a particular day, normally presented to shareholders once a year. Everything owned by the company (i.e. its assets) must be equal to the sum of the company's debts (liabilities) and the value of its shares and retained earnings (net worth).

Ball Clay      A fine-grained, plastic, white firing clay used principally for bonding in ceramic ware.

Ball mill      A cylindrically shaped steel container filled with steel balls into which crushed ore is fed. The ball mill is rotated, causing the balls to cascade, which in turn grinds the ore.

Banded iron formation      Rock composed of bands or layers of minerals (rocks) differing in color and texture.

Banjo      An alluvial gold washing trough, a shovel, musical instrument, a carrying case for Chinese gold scales.

Barren      Said of rock or vein material containing no minerals of value, and of strata without coal, or containing coal in seams too thin to be workable.

Barricading      Enclosing part of a mine to prevent inflow of noxious gasses from a mine fire or an explosion.

Barrier      Something that bars or keeps out. Barrier pillars are solid blocks of coal left between two mines or sections of a mine to prevent accidents due to inrushes of water, gas, or from explosions or a mine fire.

Basal till      Unsorted glacial debris at the base of the soil column where it comes into contact with the bedrock below.

Basalt      An extrusive volcanic rock composed primarily of plagioclase, pyroxene and minor olivine.

Base      Any compound that will combine with an acid and neutralize it, forming a salt; also bottom or support for any structure.