Scraper
CALCULATING WEIGHT OF ORE.
Measure the cubic contents of the mass; multiply this by the weight of one cubic foot of the mineral.
For small masses, where no scales are at hand, fill a bucket with water, and stand it in an empty barrel. Fill the bucket brimful; introduce the rock, or ore, and measure the water it displaces. Find the number of cubic inches in the overflow by reference to the following table:
Multiply the total so found by the specific gravity of the ore, and the result will be the answer sought.
Supposing the bottom of the bin to be wedge-shaped, measure half the height from the bottom to the top and multiply the number of feet by the width and length, both in feet. This will give number of cubic feet in the bin. Multiply the number of cubic feet by the weight of one cubic foot of the ore, and the result will show the number of pounds of ore the bin will hold. Divide by 2,000 to reduce to tons.
MINING REGULATIONS.
The mining regulations of every country differ, and the prospector must learn by heart the provisions of the one he works under. A claim notice written with a hard pencil or surveyor's marking lead on a soft pine board will last for years.
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.
Adamantine—Having diamond luster.
Adit—A horizontal tunnel from the surface draining a mine.
Alluvium—Deposit by streams.
Amalgamation—Combining mercury with another metal.
Analysis—A chemical search whereby the nature (qualitative) and amount (quantitative) of the components of a substance are found out.
Aqua regia—A mixture of 3 parts hydrochloric acid with 1 part strong nitric acid.
Arenaceous—Sandy.
Argentiferous—Silver-bearing.
Argillaceous—Clay-bearing.
Arrastra—A rotary and primitive mill.
Assay—A test.
Assay-ton—29.166 2-3 grammes.
Auriferous—Gold-bearing.
Bar—Obstruction in the bed of a river.
Bar-diggings—Claims in the shallows of streams.
Base Metals—Those not classed as precious.
Batea—Mexican gold-washing dish.
Battery—A set of stamps for crushing.
Bed—A seam or deposit.
Bed-rock—Solid stratum below porous material.
Bench—Old river bed; also called a terrace.
Booming—The sudden discharge of accumulated water.
Bort—Black diamond.
Calcite—Carbonate of lime.
Canon—Pronounced canyon; a gorge.
Carat—About 4 grains Troy.
Cement—Compacted gravel.
Color—A speck of gold.
Country Rock—The rock enclosing a vein.
Cradle—A mining apparatus; also called a rocker.
Cupriferous—Copper-bearing.
Decrepitate—Crackling when hot.
Development—Work done in opening a mine.
Dip—The inclination of a vein at right angles to its length.
Dolly—A primitive stamp-mill.
Drift—A horizontal gallery in a mine; or the rubbish left by the last ice age.
Drifting—Driving a tunnel.
Dump—A heap of vein stuff, etc.
Exploitation—The actual mining following exploration.
Fathom—Six feet.
Fault—A break in a vein or bed.
Float-gold—Fine grains that do not sink in the water.
Float—Veinstone or ore by which a vein is traced.
Flume—Wooden troughs carrying water.
Flux—Material added to help fusion.
Foliated—In thin layers.
Gangue—Veinstone.
Gouge—A selvage of clay between vein and country rock.
Grade—The inclination of a ditch, etc.
Grating—Perforated iron sheet, or bars with spaces.
Gravel—Broken down, rounded rock fragments.
Ground Sluice—A gutter in which gold is washed.
Iridescent—Showing the hues of the rainbow.
Litharge—Proto oxide of lead.
Long Tom—A machine for saving alluvial gold.
Marl—Clay containing lime.
Miner's Inch—An arbitrary measure of water regulated by local custom.
Mundic—Iron pyrites.
Open Cut—A surface working.
Outcrop—That part of a vein showing on the surface.
Oxidation—A chemical union with oxygen.
Oxide—Combination of a metal with oxygen.
Panning—Washing gravel, or crushed rock, in a gold-miner's pan to detect gold, etc.
Peroxide—The oxide of any substance that is richest in oxygen.
Placer—A deposit of valuable metal in gravel.
Plat—A map from an original survey.
Plumbago—Graphite or black lead.
Precipitate—Matter separated from a solution.
Pulp—Pulverized ore mixed with water.
Quarry—An open working.
Quartz—Silica.
Quartzose—Containing a large proportion of quartz.
Reduce—To turn ore into metal by taking away oxygen.
Riffle—A groove or strip to catch gold and mercury in a sluice.
Roasting—Heating in contact with air.
Shaft—A pit giving access to a vein or working.
Stratum—Bed or layer.
Striated—Marked with parallel workings.
Strip—To remove overlying material from a vein.
Sulphate—A salt containing sulphuric acid.
Sulphide—A combination of sulphur and a metal.
Sulphurets—When the miner employs this term he usually means pyrites.
Tailings—The refuse matter after ore has been crushed.
Throw—The movements of vein caused by a fault; it may be up or down.
Translucent—If light passes through a mineral, it is translucent; if you can see the details of an object through it, it is transparent.
Underlie—The same thing as dip.
Unstratified—Without stratification or bedding.
Wash Dirt—Auriferous gravel or clay.
Whim—A machine for hoisting by a revolving drum.
Winze—An interior shaft connecting the levels.
Zinc—White oxide of zinc.
Transcriber's Note:Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note.Irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been retained as printed.
Transcriber's Note:
Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note.
Irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been retained as printed.