master alloy
A ready-made mixture of metals with a higher concentration of an additive than you want in the final product, so that a metalworker can stir in a small, precise amount and get exactly the right composition.
तकनीकी रूप से: A master alloy is a pre-alloyed intermediate, usually based on aluminium, copper, or nickel, that contains a high concentration of one or more alloying or grain-refining elements and is formulated to dissolve readily when added in controlled quantities to a larger melt. The dilution approach allows precise compositional adjustment without the difficulty of handling small quantities of reactive or refractory pure metals directly. Master alloys are distinguished from ferroalloys by their non-ferrous base and by the relatively small addition rates typically involved; they are also distinct from hardeners in some industry usages, though the terms overlap in non-ferrous foundry practice.
Processing
material intensity
How much of a particular material is needed to make one unit of something — for example, how many kilograms of copper go into one electric car.
तकनीकी रूप से: The quantity of a given material consumed per unit of output, product or economic activity, typically expressed in mass per unit (tonnes per megawatt of generating capacity, grams per vehicle and similar measures). Material intensity is used to link demand forecasts for end products to derived demand for the underlying mineral. It is distinct from material efficiency, which describes how much of the input material is successfully incorporated into the final product rather than lost as process waste; high material intensity and low material efficiency can coexist in the same production system.
Markets
matte
A thick, heavy liquid produced partway through smelting sulfide ores, made mostly of metal sulfides mixed together. It still needs further treatment before pure metal can be extracted from it.
तकनीकी रूप से: Matte is an intermediate pyrometallurgical product consisting predominantly of metal sulfides—in copper production, mainly copper sulfide and iron sulfide—formed when a sulfide concentrate is smelted under controlled oxidising conditions. Its grade is expressed as the percentage of copper (or nickel, in nickel smelting) it contains, and raising this grade is the objective of the converting step that follows. Matte is distinct from slag, which is the silicate-dominated waste layer that separates above or below it in the furnace depending on density relationships.
Processing
measured resource
The part of a deposit that geologists know about in the greatest detail, based on closely spaced samples and tests.
तकनीकी रूप से: A measured resource is one for which quantity, grade or quality, densities, shape and physical characteristics are estimated with a high level of confidence, derived from closely spaced sampling and detailed geological interpretation. It is the highest-confidence category within the resource classification and is the only category that can convert to a proven reserve once economic and technical criteria are met. It is sometimes confused with a proven reserve, but until a feasibility study confirms economic viability the material remains a resource, not a reserve.
Markets
mill
A mill is the building or whole site where ore is crushed, ground, and processed after it leaves the mine. The word also names the individual machine that grinds rock into fine powder.
तकनीकी रूप से: In mining, 'mill' is used at two scales that must be distinguished by context. At the equipment level it refers to a grinding machine—most commonly a ball mill, rod mill, SAG mill, or AG mill—that reduces crushed ore to the fine particle sizes required for mineral liberation. At the facility level, 'mill' or 'mill complex' denotes the entire processing plant that receives run-of-mine or crushed ore and produces a saleable concentrate or other upgraded product. Confusion arises when 'mill' and 'concentrator' are used interchangeably for the facility; strictly, a mill may include unit operations beyond concentration, such as filtration and tailings management, whereas a concentrator is defined by its separation function.
Mining
mine life
Mine life is the number of years a mine is expected to keep producing, based on how much ore has been identified and how fast it will be mined. When the ore runs out, the mine closes.
तकनीकी रूप से: Mine life is the projected operating period of a mine from commencement of production to exhaustion of the economically recoverable reserve, calculated by dividing the total proven and probable ore reserve by the planned annual throughput rate. It is a forward-looking estimate and changes as new reserves are delineated, as throughput rates are revised, or as the cut-off grade is adjusted in response to commodity prices. Mine life should not be confused with the life of the mineral resource, which is a larger and less certain quantity; the reserve is the subset underpinning the life calculation.
Mining
mineralisation
The presence of useful or interesting minerals concentrated in rock, not necessarily enough to mine but enough to be worth studying.
तकनीकी रूप से: Mineralisation is the occurrence of one or more minerals of economic or potential economic interest within a rock body, introduced or concentrated by geological processes. The term is intentionally non-committal about grade or quantity, and its use in technical reporting deliberately avoids the implication that the material qualifies as a mineral resource under any reporting code. It is often used in early exploration to describe anomalous concentrations before sufficient data exist to classify the occurrence formally; once adequate drilling and sampling have been completed, the material may be reclassified as a mineral resource or found to fall below economic thresholds.
Geology