Alluvium: Relatively recent deposits of sedimentary material laid down in river beds, flood plains, lakes, or at the base of mountain slopes.

Alteration : Changes in the chemical or mineralogical composition of a rock, generally produced by weathering or hydrothermal solutions.

Anomaly: A statistical abnormality discovered by surveying and plotting geochemical or geophysical patterns over an area of ground. An anomaly suggests the possibility of a mineral deposit.

Archean: Term applied to the oldest rocks of the Precambrian, of more than 2600 million years

Assay: A chemical test performed on a sample of ores or minerals to determine the amount of valuable metals contained.

Basalt: Dark, dense, aphanitic, extrusive rock that has a silica content of 40% to 50% and makes up most of the ocean floor. Basalt is the most abundant volcanic rock in the Earth's crust.

Base metals : Any non-precious metal (copper, lead, zinc, nickel, etc.).

Biotite: A platy magnesium-iron mica, common in igneous rocks.

Bismuth: (Bi) : A white, crystalline, brittle, highly diamagnetic metallic element used in alloys to form sharp castings for objects sensitive to high temperatures and in various low-melting alloys for fire-safety devices.

Breccia: Rock made up of highly angular coarse fragments.

Chalcopyrite: (CuFeS2) : A sulphide mineral of copper and iron; the most important ore mineral of copper.

Channel: A cut along the line where rock is to be split.

Channel sample: A sample composed of pieces of vein or mineral deposit that have been cut out of a small trench or channel, usually about 10 cm wide and 2 cm deep.

Chert or exhalites: A member of a group of sedimentary rocks that consist primarily of microscopic silica crystals. Chert may be either organic or inorganic, but the most common forms are inorganic. Chert is a marker for volcanic calm spells during which the sulphides may accumulate to form economic deposits.

Chlorite: Widespread group of layer silicate minerals composed of hydrous aluminum silicates, usually of magnesium and iron. Chlorites characteristically occur as alteration products of other higher temperature minerals and are most common in sedimentary and igneous rocksand in some metamorphic rocks.

Claim: Mining exploration right over a portion of land held either by a prospector or a mining company. In Canada, the common size is 1,320 ft. (about 400 m) square, or 40 acres (about 16 ha). In Quebec, where claims are staked on a map or through Internet ("map staking"), size of a claim or "cell" is varying with latitude but is commonly of 0,5 sq km (50 ha).

Copper: (Cu) : Metallic chemical element, sometimes found in the free state in nature, it is a reddish metal, very ductile and an unusually good conductor of electricity and heat. Most copper is used by the electrical industries; the remainder is combined with other metals, incl. brass, bronze, nickel, and silver, to form alloys.

Craton: The segment of the Earth's continents that have remained tectonically stable and relatively earthquake-free for a vast period of time. The craton is composed of the continental shield and the surrounding continental platform.

Crosscut: (mining) A horizontal opening driven from a shaft and (or near) right angles to the strike of a vein or other orebody.

Crust: The outermost layer of the Earth, consisting of relatively low-density rocks.

Electromagnetic survey: (EM) A geophysical survey method which measures the electromagnetic properties of rocks.
Extrusive rock : An igneous rock formed from lava that has flowed out onto the Earth's surface, characterized by rapid solidification and grains that are so small as to be barely visible to the naked eye.

Felsic: Term used to describe light-coloured rocks containing feldspar, feldspathoids and silica.

Fire assay: The assaying of metallic ores, usually gold and silver, by methods requiring a furnace heat.

Geochemistry: The study of the chemical properties of rocks.

Geology: The science concerned with the study of the rocks which compose the Earth.

Geophysical survey: A scientific method of prospecting that measures the physical properties of rock formations. Common properties investigated include magnetism, specific gravity, electrical conductivity and radioactivity.

Geophysics: The study of the physical properties of rocks and minerals.

Glacial drift : A load of rock material transported and deposited by a glacier.

Glacial till or till : Drift that is deposited directly from glacial ice and therefore not sorted.

Glacier: A moving body of ice that forms on land from the accumulation and compaction of snow, and that flows downslope or outward due to gravity and the pressure of its own weight.

Gold: (Au) Dense, lustrous, yellow, malleable precious metal, so durable that it is virtually indestructible, often found uncombined in nature. Gold is widely distributed in all igneous rocks, usually pure but in low concentrations.

Granite: A coarse-grained intrusive igneous rock consisting of quartz, feldspar and mica.

Gravity meter, gravimeter: An instrument for measuring the gravitational attraction of the earth; gravitational attraction varies with the density of the rocks in the vicinity.

Hematite: (Fe2O3) : An oxide of iron, and one of that metal's most common ore minerals.

Host Rock: The rock surrounding an ore deposit.

Hydrothermal: Relating to hot fluids circulating in the earth's crust.

Hydrothermal deposit : A mineral deposit formed by the precipitation of metallic ions from water ranging in temperature from 50º to 700ºC.

Igneous or magmatic rock: Rock formed by the solidification of molten material from far below the earth's surface.

Intrusive rock: An igneous rock formed by the entrance of magma into pre-existing rock.

Kimberlite: A variety of peridotite; the most common host rock of diamonds. Almost all diamond mines worldwide are hosted within kimberlitic-type rocks.

Macro-diamond: Diamond of more than 0,5 millimetre in one dimension.

Mafic : Igneous rocks composed mostly of dark, iron: and magnesium-rich minerals.

Magma: Molten rock that forms naturally within the Earth. Magma may be either a liquid or a fluid mixture of liquid, crystals, and dissolved gases.

Malachite: (Cu2(CO3)(OH)2) Widespread carbonate mineral of copper, malachite serves as a prospecting guide because of its distinctive bright green color and its presence in the weathered zone of nearly all copper deposits.

Massive sulfide deposit : An unusually large deposit of sulfide minerals.

Metamorphic rock: A rock that has undergone chemical or structural changes. Heat, pressure, or a chemical reaction may cause such changes.

Micro-diamond : Diamond of less than 0,5 millimetre.

Mineral : A naturally occurring homogeneous substance having definite physical properties and chemical composition and, if formed under favourable conditions, a definite crystal form.

Molybdenite : A sulfide mineral, the principal ore of molybdenum.

Molybdenum: (Mo) A silvery gray, relatively rare metal with a high melting point (4,730°F, or 2,610°C) that does not occur uncombined in nature. Since molybdenum and its alloys have useful strength at temperatures that melt most other metals and alloys, they are used in high-temperature steels.

Minéraux: Corps naturels ayant des compositions chimiques précises, comme le quartz, le feldspath, la pyrite, etc.

Molybdène: (Mo) Métal rare, blanc argenté, qui possède la particularité de garder une très forte résistance mécanique et une dureté exceptionnelle à des températures élevées. Il est utilisé dans plusieurs alliages.

Ore: A mixture of ore minerals and gangue from which at least one of the metals can be extracted at a profit.

Porphyry: Any igneous rock in which relatively large crystals, called phenocrysts, are set in a fine-grained groundmass.

Precambrian age: A deposit of disseminated copper minerals in or around a large body of intrusive rock.

Precambrian Shield: The oldest, most stable regions of the earth's crust, the largest of which is the Canadian Shield.

Precious metals: Gold, silver or any of the minerals of the platinum group.

Pyrite: (FeS2) A yellow iron sulphide mineral, normally of little value..

Pyrrhotite: (Fe1-xS) A bronze-coloured, magnetic iron sulphide mineral.

Quartz: (SiO2) Common rock-forming mineral consisting of silicon and oxygen.

Rhyolite: Any of a group of felsic extrusive rocks which have the same chemical composition as granite.

Rock: Any natural combination of minerals.

Sediment: A collection of transported fragments or precipitated materials that accumulate, typically in loose layers, as of sand or mud.

Sedimentary rock : Rock made from the consolidation of solid fragments, as of other rocks or organic remains, or by precipitation of minerals from solution. Examples are limestone, shale and sandstone.

Silica: (SiO2) Silicon dioxide. Quartz is a common example.

Silver: (Ag) A white, lustrous precious metal, valued for its beauty. It is also valued for its electrical conductivity, which is the highest of any metal. Widely distributed in nature in small amounts, as the native metal and in ores, it is usually recovered as a by-product of copper and lead production.

Sphalerite: A zinc sulphide mineral; the most common ore mineral of zinc.

Stringer: A narrow vein or irregular filament of a mineral or minerals traversing a rock mass.

Sulfide: A compound of sulfur and some other element.

Sulfur: (S) Nonmetallic chemical element, it is very reactive but occurs native in deposits, as well as combined in various ores (e.g., pyrite, galena, cinnabar); in coal, petroleum, and natural gas; and in the water in sulfur springs. It combines with nearly all other elements. All metals except gold and platinum form sulfides, and many ores are sulfides.

Vein: A fissure, fault or crack in a rock filled by minerals.

Volcanic rock : See extrusive rock.