Table of Contents
Appendix D - Glossary of Mining Definitions
ABANDONED Given up with the intent of never again claiming a right or interest in the mineral interest.
ACRE A measure of land, 160 square rods (4,840 square yards, 43,560 square feet).
ACTIVE PARTICIPATION Involvement in a rental real estate activity making management decisions. Requires no specific number of hours.
ACTIVITY A trade or business. Two or more operations within a trade or business could be deemed separate activities.
ADIT A nearly horizontal gallery or passage driven from the surface of the ground to the ore body. The term "tunnel" is frequently used in place of adit, but technically a tunnel is open to the surface on both ends.
ADJUSTED GROSS INCOME For purposes of IRC section 469(i)(3)(E), adjusted gross income shall be determined without regard to:
- social security and tier 1 railroad benefits included in income;
- the amount of income from savings bonds used for higher education fees excluded from income;
- the deduction allowed for qualified retirement contributions, and
- any passive activity loss or any loss from rental real estate activities allowed under IRC section 469(c)(7).
AGGREGATE Natural particles, crushed and broken rock, and man-made materials that are graded by size into categories to meet specifications for particular construction uses.
AGGREGATION Combining two or more passive activities in which the taxpayer works 100 to 500 hours.
ALLUVIAL Adjective used to identify particular types of, or minerals found associated with, deposits made by flowing water as, alluvial fan, alluvial terrace, alluvial told, alluvial tin.
ALLUVIAL DEPOSIT Generally pertains to loose gravel, soil, or mud which have been transported and deposited by flowing water.
ALLUVIUM Clay silt, sand, gravel, or other rock materials transported by flowing water and deposited in comparatively recent geologic time as sorted or semi-sorted sediments in river beds, estuaries, and floor plains, in lakes, on shores and in fans at the base of mountain slopes. The term is not applied to subaqueous sediments deposited in seas or lakes or to non-sorted sediments carried or deposited by glaciers.
ANALYSIS A separation of compound substances by chemical means.
ANGLE OF REST The maximum slope at which a heap of any loose or fragmented solid material will stand without sliding or will come to rest when poured or dumped in a pile or on a slope.
ANGLE OF SLIDE The slope, measured in degrees of deviation from the horizontal, on which loose or fragmented solid materials will start to slide; it is a slightly greater angle than the angle of rest.
ARMOR ROCK Stone resulting from blasting, cutting, or other methods to obtain pieces heavy enough (generally 1 to 3 tons) to require handling two individual pieces by mechanical means. Used to protect beds, bank, shores, and embankments against intense erosion and scour by running water, tidal currents, and wave action.
ASPHALT SAND AND GRAVEL Sized and broken sand and gravel mixed with asphalt in batch plants to form asphalt concrete and road pavements. Dry, clean, fractured particle faces adhere well to bitumen and pack (interlock) efficiently to provide increased concrete and pavement strength.
ASSAY The determination of the valuable minerals in a sample. A wet assay is determined by the use of chemicals. A fire assay is determined by both chemicals and fire. Gold and silver are usually assayed by fire.
AVULSION Removal of land from one owner to another when a stream suddenly changes its channel.
BANK A steeply sloping mass of any earthy or rock material rising above the digging level from which the soil or rock is to be dug from its natural or blasted position in an open pit mine or quarry.
BANK HEIGHT The vertical height of a bank as measured between its highest point or crest and its toe at the digging level or bench.
BANK SLOPE The angle, measured in degrees of deviation from the horizontal, at which the earthy or rock material will stand in an excavated cut in an open-pit mine or quarry.
BARITE Barium sulfate, which has a specific gravity of 4.3 to 4.6.
BEDROCK Any solid rock underlying gold-bearing gravels.
BENCH A former wave-cut shore of a sea or lake or flood plain of a river.
BLACK SAND Grains of heavy, dark minerals such as magnetite, limonite, chromite, etc., found in streams which commonly collect in sluice boxes and which may carry gold and platinum.
BULK Not divided into parts.
BY-PRODUCTS Placer metals, garnet, limonite, chromite, rare-earth elements, zircon, cassiterite, and other minerals concentrated during the mechanical processing of natural aggregates.
CHUTE An opening in the ground where ore is allowed to pass from one level to another. It is the structure built to load cars from a stope.
CLAIM A land area claimed by a prospector and marked out by stakes.
CLOSELY HELD CORPORATION A corporation with five or fewer shareholders owning more than 50 percent in value of the stock at any time during the last half of the taxable year.
COLOR A term referring to small grains or flakes of gold.
COMMODITIES Economic goods, for example, products of agriculture or mining.
CONTRACTOR One that contracts to perform work or provide supplies on a large scale.
CONTOUR Lines connecting points of equal elevation on a contour map.
CRUSHER A machine used to squeeze or force by pressure so as to alter or destroy structure.
DEMARCATE To mark the limits of.
DEPLETION The process by which the cost or other basis of a natural resource is recovered upon extraction and sale of the resource. For tax purposes, the two ways to determine the depletion allowance are the cost and percentage methods.
DEPOSIT Something laid down; such as matter deposited by a natural process.
DIP The maximum angle of inclination downward that a vein or bed makes with a horizontal plane.
DYNAMITE An explosive mixture of glycerin, sodium or ammonium nitrate, and a filler of combustible pulp such as a wood meal.
ELECTRIC CAP A small metallic cap containing fulminating powder which is detonated by an electric current.
EMPLOYEE One employed by another usually for wages or salary and in a position below the executive level.
ENTITY Any corporation, partnership, trust, association, or estate formed for carrying on a business activity.
EXCAVATION A cavity formed by cutting, digging, or scooping.
EXPOSURE Any part of a vein or rock outcrop that can easily be seen.
FAULT A fracture in the earth's crust accompanied by a displacement of one side of the fracture with respect to the other and in a direction parallel to the fracture.
FISSURE An opening or crack in the rock. A fissure vein is a fissure filled with mineral matter.
FLOAT The loose and scattered pieces of ore which have been broken off from an outcrop.
FOOTWALL The bottom or lower enclosing wall of a vein.
FUSE A tube or cord filled or impregnated with combustible matter for igniting an explosive charge after a predetermined interval, as in blasting.
GRANTEE A person to whom real estate is conveyed; the buyer.
GRANTOR A person who conveys real estate by deed; the seller.
HANGING WALL The down thrown side of fault block in normal faulting.
HEAD FRAME A structure erected over a shaft to support the sheave wheel for hoisting purposes.
HEADING Any part of a mine where work is under way. Usually confined to development workings only.
HECTARE A metric measure of surface area (2.471 acres).
HEDGING Entering into the purchase of commodity futures contracts to reduce the risk of an unfavorable price fluctuation.
HIGH GRADING Stealing of high grade ore or nuggets from workings of a hard rock or placer mine by employees or others.
HORIZONTAL Parallel to, in the plane of, or operating in a plane parallel to the horizon or to a base line.
IGNEOUS ROCK Rock formed from molten lava.
K-1 The form attached to Forms 1065, 1120-S, and 1041 returns which reports the flow-through of income and losses to an investor's individual return.
KILOGRAM (kg) The basic metric unit of mass and weight equal to the mass of a platinum-iridium cylinder kept at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures near Paris and nearly equal to 1000 cubic centimeters of water at the temperature of its maximum density.
KILOMETER 1,000 meters; approximate equivalent equals 0.62 mile.
LATERAL A horizontal mine working. A drift in the footwall of a vein is often called a lateral.
LEASE A contract by which the owner of operating rights assigns all or a portion of such rights to another person whether for no immediate consideration or for cash and its equivalent, and retains a continuing nonoperating interest in production.
LESSEE A person who obtains a lease on mining land.
LESSOR The grantor of a lease.
LEVEL All the connected horizontal mine openings at a certain elevation.
LIMITED PARTNER An investor in a partnership whose personal liability is limited. Presumed to be not materially participating (passive) according to the passive activity rules.
LOCATING The marking of the boundaries and staking of a mining claim.
LODE A tabular deposit between definite walls.
LONG TOM An inclined trough used to concentrate gold from auriferous earth.
MATERIAL PARTICIPATION Regular, substantial, and continuous involvement in a business. Allows losses to be deducted in full and not limited by the passive activity rules.
MILL A machine for crushing or comminuting.
MILLING ORE Ore that must be concentrated at or near the mine before it is shipped.
MINE A pit or excavation in the earth from which mineral substances are taken.
MINERAL A solid homogenous crystalline chemical element or compound that results from the inorganic processes of nature.
MODIFIED ADJUSTED GROSS INCOME (AGI) See definition for Adjusted Gross Income.
MUCK To move or load muck.
MUCK Broken underground rock removed in the process of excavating or mining.
MUCKER A shoveler, or one who handles muck.
NITRO Short for nitroglycerin, which is any nitrate of glycerol, a colorless, heavy, oily, explosive liquid used in making dynamite.
NONPASSIVE ACTIVITY A trade or business in which the taxpayer materially participates, that is, on a regular, continuous, and substantial basis. Losses can be deducted in full.
NUGGET A piece of gold of any shape or size larger than a flake, usually rounded by stream or water action.
OPTION The right to purchase at a stated price.
ORE A source from which valuable matter is extracted.
ORE A mineral aggregate containing a valuable constituent (as metal) for which it is mined and worked for a profit.
ORE BODY The part of a vein that carries ore. Generally, all parts of a vein are not ore. Ore shoot has the same meaning.
OUTCROP The edge or surface of a mineral deposit or sedimentary bed which appears on the surface.
OVERBURDEN The valueless material overlaying the pay zone in a placer deposit or the waste or valueless material of a solid outcrop.
OXIDE A compound of a metal and oxygen.
OZ. Ounce.
PASSIVE ACTIVITY Any activity which involves the conduct of a trade or business which the taxpayer does not materially participate.
PASSIVE INCOME Income from a passive activity.
PASSIVE LOSS Loss from a passive activity.
PATENT Conveyance of title to government land.
PAY Ore or a natural situation that yields metal and/or gold in profitable amounts.
PIT A hole, shaft, or cavity in the ground.
PLACER An alluvial or glacial deposit containing particles of valuable mineral-bearing gravel or gold.
PLANE An even surface. A horizontal plane is a flat, even, level surface.
PORTFOLIO INCOME All gross income, other than income derived in the ordinary course of a trade or business, that is attributable to interest, dividends, royalties, and gains from the sale of stocks and bonds as well as other investment activities.
PRECIOUS Of great value or high price.
PRECIPICE A very steep or overhanging place.
PROXIMITY The quality or state of being proximate.
QUADRANGLE A tract of the land in the U.S. Governmental Survey System measuring 24 miles on each side of the square, sometimes referred to as a "check".
QUARRY An open excavation usually for obtaining building stone, slate, or limestone.
QUITCLAIM DEED A deed given when the grantee already has, or claims, complete or partial title to the premises and the grantor has a possible interest that otherwise would constitute a cloud upon the title.
RAISE An excavation of restricted cross-section, driven upwards either vertically or at an angle from a level in the mine.
RAKE The trend of the ore body within the vein.
RECHARACTERIZATION RULES Rules which recharacterize passive income as nonpassive.
REFINE To reduce to a pure state.
RIFFLES Obstacles placed along the bottom of a sluice or rocker that form pockets to catch gold by concentrating heavier materials.
RIPARIAN Pertaining to the banks of a river, stream, waterway, and so forth.
RIPARIAN OWNER One who owns lands bounding upon a river or water course.
RIPRAP ROCK Selected hard, angular, quarried stone generally weighing between 25 and 5,400 pounds individually and placed to protect beds, banks, shores, and embankments against wave action, tidal forces, and stream currents.
ROCK Naturally occurring, consolidated materials composed of one or more minerals of the earth's crust. Any hard, consolidated materials derived from the earth and usually of relatively small size.
ROCKER A mechanical panning device comprised of three parts: a body or sluice box, a screen, and an apron.
SAND Particles of rock that pass a No.4 (4.75 mm) U.S. Standard sieve and are retained on a No. 200 (.075 mm) U.S. Standard sieve.
SECTION A section of land established by government survey and containing 640 acres or 1 square mile.
SELF-RENTED PROPERTY Personal or real property rented to an entity which the taxpayer personally controls. Stated in different terms, property rented to a nonpassive activity of the taxpayer.
SHAFT A vertical or inclined opening of a uniform and limited cross section made for finding or mining ore, raising water, or ventilating underground workings (as in a cave).
SIGNIFICANT PARTICIPATION An individual is treated as significantly participating in an activity if the individual participates in the activity for more than 100 hours during such taxable year and in which the taxpayer did not materially participate under any of the material participation tests, other than this test.
SLIP A small fault.
SLUICE BOX A sloping trough, having riffles on the bottom, through which gravel and wash from placer mining operations pass to catch and save the gold and other valuable minerals.
SPECIAL WARRANTY DEED A deed wherein the grantor limits his liability to the grantee to anyone claiming, by, from, through, or under him.
SPECIFIC GRAVITY The ratio of the weight of any substance to the weight of an equal volume of water.
STONE Natural rock material of adequate integrity and quality that can be quarried and then sawed, cut, split, or otherwise sized, shaped, or finished for specific purposes. Natural building stone includes granitic rocks, greenstones, limestones, marbles, massive serpentinite (antigorite), and sandstones.
STOPE A step-like excavation underground for the removal of ore. It is formed as the ore is mined in successive layers.
STRIKE The bearing of a horizontal line in the plane of a vein, bed, or fault in respect to the cardinal points of the compass.
STRIPPING Removal of the overburden from a placer deposit or the barren outcrop from an ore deposit.
STULL A timber used to support loose rocks or slabs. It may also be used to support a platform in a working area.
SUMP The lowest part of a mine shaft into which water drains.
SURVEY The process by which a parcel of land is measured and its area ascertained.
SUSPENDED LOSSES Passive losses which are carried forward indefinitely until the taxpayer has passive income or there is an entire disposition of the activity.
TAILINGS Residue separated in the preparation of various products (as grains or ores).
TIERED ENTITIES Partnerships or trusts or corporations invested in other partnerships or trusts or corporations.
TOPOGRAPHY The contour and slope of land, hills, valleys, streams, etc.
TRAVERTINE A variety of layered or banded, porous to dense, crystalline to microcrystalline limestone that is deposited by springs, seeps, or running water.
TREND The general direction or bearing of a vein, fault, or rock outcrop.
UNDERCURRENT A wide, flat sluice box placed beneath the main sluice box used to save fine gold.
VALUE Refers to the mineral substance sought. In the case of gold, the term is synonymous with color.
VEIN A well-defined, tabular, mineralized zone which may or may not have valuable ore bodies.
VERTICAL Perpendicular to the plane of the horizon or to a primary axis.
WALL The waste or country rock on either side of a vein.
WARRANTY DEED One that contains a covenant that the grantor will protect the grantee against any claimant.
WASTE Barren rock or mineralized material which does not have enough value to be classified as an ore.
WELL An issue of water from the earth. A shaft or hole sunk to obtain oil, brine, or gas.
WINZE A steeply inclined passageway connecting a mine working place with a lower one.
WORKING FACE Any portion of the mine where work is under way, such as the face of a drift or the face of a raise.
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