| Back- The
roof or upper part in any underground mining cavity. |
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| Backfill – Mine waste or rock used to support the roof after ore removal |
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| Bacterial leaching / bio-oxidation - The use of bacteria to oxidise sulphide minerals. |
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| Ball mill: a steel
cylinder loaded with steel balls into which crushed ore is fed. The ball mill is rotated,
causing the balls to cascade and grind the ore. |
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| Banjo - Miner's term for a
shovel. |
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| 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. |
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| Barricading - Enclosing part of a mine to prevent
inflow of noxious gasses from a mine fire or an explosion. Also used in cut & fill
stopes to hold back the wet sandfill until it dries. |
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| 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. |
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| Base Metal - A metal inferior
in value to gold and silver, generally applied to the commercial metals such as copper,
lead, etc. |
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| Basic Rock - An igneous rock,
relatively low in silica and composed mostly of dark-colured minerals. |
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| Beam - A bar or straight
girder used to support a span of roof between two support props or walls. |
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| Beam building - The creation
of a strong, inflexible beam by bolting or otherwise fastening together several weaker
layers. In coal mining this is the intended basis for roof bolting. Similiar to cribbing. |
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| Bearing – A
surveying term used to designate direction. The bearing of a line is the acute horizontal
angle between the meridian and the line. The meridian is an established line of reference.
Azimuths are angles measured clockwise from any meridian. |
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| Bearing plate - A
plate used to distribute a given load. In roof bolting, the plate used between the bolt
head and the roof. |
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| Bed - A stratum of coal or
other sedimentary deposit. |
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| Bedrock - any solid rock
underlying gravels or other detrital material |
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| Belt conveyor - A
looped belt on which coal or other materials can be carried and which is generally
constructed of flame-resistant material or of reinforced rubber or rubber-like substance. |
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| Bench - One
of to or more divisions of a coal seam separated by slate or formed by the process of
cutting the coal. In open pits, benches are different mining levels formed as the rock is
mined in horizontal slices. |
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| Beneficiation - The
treatment of mined material, making it more concentrated or richer. Uses the process of
crushing, grinding, and often froth-flotation to remove waste rock from ore. The metal
content is increased as the waste is removed. |
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| Berm - A pile
or mound of material capable of restraining a vehicle.
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| Binder - A streak of
impurity in a coal seam. |
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| Bit - The hardened and
strengthened device at the end of a drill rod that transmits the energy of breakage to the
rock. The size of the bit determines the size of the hole. A bit may be either detachable
from or integral with its supporting drill rod. |
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| Bituminous coal – A
middle rank coal (between subbituminous and anthracite) formed by additional pressure and
heat on lignite. Usually has a high Btu value and may be referred to as "soft
coal." |
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| Blasting agent - Any
material consisting of a mixture of a fuel and an oxidizer |
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| Blasting cap - A
detonator containing a charge of detonating compound, which is ignited by electric current
or the spark of a fuse. Used for detonating explosives. |
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| Blasting circuit - Electric
circuits used to fire electric detonators or to ignite an igniter cord by means of an
electric starter. |
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| Bleeder or bleeder entries - Special
air courses developed and maintained as part of the mine ventilation system and designed
to continuously move air-methane mixtures emitted by the gob or at the active face away
from the active workings and into mine-return air courses. Alt: Exhaust ventilation
lateral. |
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| B-Line - A detonating cord
with a high explosive core used in secondary blasting operations. |
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| Block Caving - A cheap method
of mining in which large blocks or ore are undercut, the ore breaks and caves under its
own weight. |
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| Bolt torque - The turning
force in foot-pounds applied to a roof bolt to achieve an installed tension. |
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| Borehole - Any deep or
long drill-hole, usually associated with a diamond drill. |
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| Bootleg - The bottom or side
or a drillhole left unbroken by a blast. |
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| Bottom - Floor or
underlying surface of an underground excavation. |
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| Boss - Any member of
the managerial ranks who is directly in charge of miners (e.g., "shift-boss,"
"face-boss," "fire-boss," etc.). |
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| Boxhole - A short raise or
opening driven above a drift for the purpose of drawing ore from a stope, or to permit
access. |
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| Box-type magazine - A
small, portable magazine used to store limited quantities of explosives or detonators for
short periods of time at locations in the mine which are convenient to the blasting sites
at which they will be used. |
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| Breakthrough - A
passage for ventilation that is cut through the pillars between rooms. |
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| Breast - A working face,
usually restricted to a stope. |
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| Bridge carrier - A
rubber-tire-mounted mobile conveyor, about 10 meters long, used as an intermediate unit to
create a system of articulated conveyors between a mining machine and a room or entry
conveyor. |
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| Bridge conveyor - A
short conveyor hung from the boom of mining or lading machine or haulage system with the
other end attached to a receiving bin that dollies along a frame supported by the room or
entry conveyor, tailpiece. Thus, as the machine boom moves, the bridge conveyor keeps it
in constant connection with the tailpiece. |
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| Brow - A low place in
the roof of a mine, giving insufficient headroom. |
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| Brushing - Digging up
the bottom or taking down the top to give more headroom in roadways. |
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| Brunton - A small pocket
compass with sights and a reflector attached, used in mapping. |
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| Btu – British
thermal unit. A measure of the energy required to raise the temperature of one pound of
water one degree Fahrenheit. |
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| Bulk sample - A large sample,
selected in such a manner as to be representative of the material being sampled. |
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| Bullion - Metal in bars,
ingots or other uncoined form. |
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| Bump (or burst) - A
violent dislocation of the mine workings which is attributed to severe stresses in the
rock surrounding the workings. |
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| Burn Cut - Cut holes are
drilled straight into the surface parallel to each other with one or more holes left
unloaded for the other holes to break into. |
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| By-product: a secondary metal
or mineral product recovered in the milling process. |
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