![[logo] US EPA](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090511223808im_/http://www.epa.gov/epafiles/images/logo_epaseal.gif){kind=logo}
Glossary
Terms in this glossary may not be used for regulatory compliance purposes.
For more information on EPA terms, abbreviations and acronyms, visit Terms of Environment.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
A
- acquired lands
- Lands in federal ownership which were obtained by the government through purchase, condemnation, of gift, of by exchange. They are one category of public land (Bureau of Land Management, 1999b).
- AIM
- Arizona Abandoned and Inactive Mine
- alluvium
- Natural accumulations of unconsolidated clay, silt, sand, or gravel that have been transported by water, wind, or gravity to their present position.
- AMD
- Acid Mine Drainage
- AML
- Abandoned Mine Lands
- AMLIS
- Abandoned Mine Lands Inventory System
- AMLRP
- Abandoned Mine Lands Reclamation Program
- aquifer
- A body of rock that contains sufficient saturated permeable material to conduct groundwater and to yield significant quantities of water to wells and springs.
- ARD
- Acid Rock Drainage
- AzMILS
- Arizona Department of Mines and Mineral Resources Database
B
- backfilling
- The filling in again of a place from which the rock or ore has been removed.
- background geochemistry
- The abundance of an element in a naturally occurring material in an area where the concentration is not anomalous.
- base metals
- Those metals usually considered to be of lesser value and of greater chemical reactivity compared to the noble (or precious) metals, most commonly copper, lead, zinc and tin.
- beneficiation
- Improvement of the grade of ores by milling, flotation, sintering, gravity concentration, or other processes. Also termed "concentration."
- BLM
- Bureau of Land Management
- BOD
- Biological Oxygen Demand
- BOM
- Bureau of Mines
C
- casual use
- Mining activities that only negligibly disturb BLM lands and resources.
- CDBG
- Community Development Block Grant
- CEQA
- California Environmental Quality Act
- CERCLA
- Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
- claim
- The portion of mining ground held under the Federal and local laws by one claimant or association, by virtue of one location and record. Also called a "location."
- closure
- The point at which a company permanently stops activity (although it may still retain liabilities for unforeseen environmental or safety concerns).
- common variety minerals
- Mineral materials that do not have a special quality, quantity, character, or location that makes them of unique commercial value. On public lands such minerals are considered saleable and are disposed of by sales or by special permits to local governments.
- concentration
- See "beneficiation." It also refers to the amount of a material in a host (e.g., the amount of gold in a ton of ore.)
- construction minerals (or materials)
- Materials used in construction, notably sand, gravel, crushed stone, dimension stone, asbestos, clay, cement, and gypsum.
- cooperating agency
- Any federal, state, or local agency or Indian tribe with jurisdiction by law or special expertise enabling it to cooperate with the lead agency preparing an environmental impact statement under NEPA.
- corporate bonding
- The use of corporate assets as part or all of the financial assurance for the successful completion of reclamation or other corporate responsibility.
- CPFM
- Colloid Polishing Fiber Method
- critical environmental concern
- Describes an area under BLM management and having special attributes.
- CTSP
- Conservation Technology Support Program
- cultural resources
- Natural or manmade features having cultural or historical significance, such as structures, graves, religious sites, vistas, or bodies of water.
- cumulative impact
- The collective impacts of several operations involving human activities, including mining, grazing, farming, timbering, water diversion or discharge, and industrial processing, also includes future impacts not immediately observable.
- CVI
- Canaan Valley Institute
- CWA
- Clean Water Act
D
- DENR
- Department of Environmental and Natural Resources
- development
- The preparation of a mining property so that an ore body can be analyzed and its tonnage and quality estimated. Development is an intermediate stage between exploration and mining.
- DEQ
- Department of Environmental Quality
- discovery
- The initial recognition and demonstration of the presence of valuable mineral within a claim.
- DO
- Dissolved Oxygen
- DOC
- Department of Conservation
- DOD
- Department of Defense
- DOE
- Department of Energy
- DOT
- Department of Transportation
- DENR
- Department of Natural Resources
- dump
- A pile of ore, coal, or waste at a mine.
E
- EA
- Environmental Assessment
- EDA
- U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Association
- EMNRD
- Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department
- EPA
- Environmental Protection Agency
- ephemeral stream
- A stream or reach of a stream that flows briefly only in direct response to precipitation in the immediate locality and whose channel is at all times above the water table.
- ESA
- Endangered Species Act
- exploration
- The search for valuable minerals by geological, geochemical, geophysical, or intrusive physical examination. (See also "prospecting," which is considered part of exploration.)
F
- federal land management agencies
- The Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service, the Department of Energy, the Department of Defense, and others.
- ferrous metals
- Metals commonly occurring in alloys with iron, such as chromium, nickel, manganese, vanadium, molybdenum, cobalt, silicon, tantalum, and columbium (niobium).
- FFT
- Filter Flow Technology
- FHWA
- U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration
- financial assurance
- Funding or enforceable pledges of funding used to guarantee performance of regulatory obligations in the event of default on such obligations by the permittee.
- FLMA
- Federal Land Management Agency
- FLPMA
- Land Policy and Management Act
- FONSI
- Finding of No Significant Impact
- FTA
- Federal Transit Administration
- FWS
- see USFWS
G
- GIS
- Geographic Information Systems
- GMI
- Green Mountain Institute
- good samaritan action
- An action taken for the benefit of part or all of the community at large rather than for that of the doer. In the context of abandoned mine lands, it usually refers to the correction of some prior detrimental environmental legacy as a convenience or as a public service, but without direct personal or institutional benefit.
- GPS
- Global Positioning System
- groundwater
- Underground water.
H
- hardrock
- Locatable minerals that are neither leasable minerals (oil, gas, coal, oil shale, phosphate, sodium, potassium, sulphur, asphalt, or gilsonite) nor saleable mineral materials (e.g. , common variety sand and gravel). Hardrock minerals include, but are not limited to, copper, lead, zinc, magnesium, nickel, tungsten, gold, silver, bentonite, barite, feldspar, fluorspar, and uranium. (BLM, 1999b) Usually refers to rock types or mining environments where the rocks are hard and strong and where blasting is needed to break them for effective mining."
- heap leaching
- A process for recovery of minerals from heaps of crushed ore by percolation of a solvent (such as cyanide for gold, or ferric sulfate and sulfuric acid for copper) through the heap, followed by chemical processing of the lixiviant.
- HPF
- Historic Preservation Fund
- HUD
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
I
- IAM
- Inactive and Abandoned Mine Lands
- ICMM
- International Council on Mining and Metals
- ILS
- In-line Aeration and Neutralization System
- IMCC
- Interstate Mining Compact Commission
- IRP
- USDA Intermediary Relending Program
- ISM
- Ionic State Modification Process
J
K
L
- leach pad
- The surface upon which ore is piled for heap leaching, including those facilities to collect the lixiviant for mineral recovery.
- leasable minerals
- A legal term that identifies a mineral or mineral commodity that is leasable by the federal government under the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 and similar legislation. Leasable minerals include oil, gas, sodium, potash, phosphate, coal, and all minerals on acquired lands.
- LEPC
- Local Emergency Planning Committee
- lixiviant
- A liquid medium that selectively extracts the desired metal from the ore or material to be leached rapidly and completely, and from which the desired metal can be recovered in a concentrated form.
- locatable minerals
- A legal term that identifies minerals acquired through the General Mining Law of 1872, as amended. Locatable minerals are distinguished from federally owned minerals that are disposed of by leasing (see leasable minerals). In some situations, the term "hardrock minerals" is applied to locatable minerals.
- location
- See "claim." Also, the process of claiming or appropriating a parcel of mineral land.
- lode claim
- A claim based on the presumption that the valuable mineral is a part of a bed-rock lode, vein, stockwork, stratum, or intrusion and is not dominantly a physical redistribution of values by surficial processes (the latter constitutes a placer deposit).
M
- MAS/MIL
- Mineral Availilibilty System/Mineral Industry Location System
- MBMG
- Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology
- MDE
- Maryland Department of the Environment
- MDIG
- USGS Mine Drainage Interest Group
- MEND
- Mine Environment Natural Drainage
- MEPA
- Montana Environmental Protection Act
- mine
- An opening or excavation in the ground for the purpose of extracting minerals.
- mineral
- Any natural resource extracted from the earth for human use; e.g., ores, salts, coal, or petroleum.
- mineral deposit
- A mineral occurrence of sufficient size and grade that it might, under favorable circumstances, be considered to have economic potential.
- mineral occurrence
- A concentration of mineral that is considered to be valuable or that is of technical or scientific interest.
- mineral species
- Term used in this report to distinguish specific mineralogical species from the unmodified term "mineral."
- MPC
- Mineral Policy Center
- MRDS
- USGS Mineral Resources Data Systems
- MSHA
- Mine Safety and Health Administration
- multiple use
- A combination of balanced and diverse resource uses that takes into account the long-term needs of future generations for renewable and nonrenewable resources, including, but not limited to, recreation, range, timber, minerals, watershed, wildlife and fish, and natural scenic, scientific and historical values; and harmonious and coordinated management of the various resources without permanent impairment of the productivity of the land and the quality of the environment with consideration being given to the relative values of the resources and not necessarily to the combination of uses that will give the greatest economic return or the greatest unit output. [43 U.S.C. §1702 ©)].
- MWCB
- Mine Waste Cleanup Bureau
N
- NASLR
- National Association of State Land Reclamationists
- NCP
- National Contingency Plan
- NEPA
- National Environmental Policy Act
- NFMA
- National Forest Management Act
- NFS
- National Forest Service
- NHPA
- National Historical Preservation Act
- NMA
- National Mining Association
- NMLRC
- National Mine Land Reclamation Center
- NORM
- Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials
- notice-level operation
- A mining or exploration operation on BLM land involving more than casual use but requiring that the operator submit only a Notice rather than a plan of operations. It is limited to an area of disturbance of 5 or fewer acres.
- NPL
- National Priorities List
- NPO
- Non-profit Organization
- NPS
- National Park Service
- NRCS
- Natural Resources Conservation Service
- NSF
- National Science Foundation
O
- OCS
- Office of Community Services
- OERR
- Office of Emergency and Remedial Response
- operations
- All activities and facilities involved in management, access, exploration, extraction, beneficiation, maintenance, or reclamation.
- ore
- The naturally occurring material from which a mineral or minerals of economic value can be extracted profitably or to satisfy social or political objectives.
- OSM
- Office of Surface Mining
- OSMRE
- Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
- overburden
- Material of any nature, consolidated or unconsolidated, that overlies a deposit of useful minerals or ores.
- oxidation
- The reaction of ores or waste with oxygen (usually above the water table); in sulfide ores this results in the release of sulfuric acid that, in the absence of neutralization, mobilizes iron, copper, zinc, and other minerals. (See also redox)
P
- patent
- Concerning the ownership of a mining claim: as a noun, A document that conveys title to the ground; or the process of securing a patent.
- performance-based standards
- Standards expressed in terms of a desired result or outcome rather than a method, process, or technology. See also "technically prescriptive standards."
- phreatophyte
- A plant that obtains its water supply from the zone of saturation or through the capillary fringe and is characterized by a deep root system.
- pit lake
- A lake that forms within the open pit of a mining operation.
- placer
- A mineral deposit that has achieved its present distribution through the prior action of moving water or wind. Placers are usually in poorly consolidated materials and are the sources of much, but not all, tin, titanium, rare earths, diamonds, and zirconium, and some gold.
- plan of operations
- A plan for mining exploration or development on BLM land involving more than 5 acres or a plan for mining where the operator with preexisting, valid claims intends to mine in an area of Critical Environmental Concern or a Wilderness area.
- point source discharge
- Discharge of pollutant from a discernible, confined and discrete conveyance, including but not limited to any pipe, ditch, channel, tunnel, conduit, well, discrete fissure, or container.
- post-closure
- The time after a property formerly used for mining has been reclaimed.
- precious metal
- Any of several relatively scarce and valuable metals, such as gold, silver, and the platinum group metals.
- prospecting
- The search for outcrops or surface exposures of mineral deposits. Searching for new deposits; also preliminary explorations to test the values of lodes or placers already known to exist.
- public domain
- Land owned, controlled, or heretofore disposed of by the U.S. government.
- public land
- The part of the U.S. public domain to which title is still vested in the federal government and that is subject to appropriation, sale, or disposal under the general laws.
Q
R
- RAMP
- Rural Abandoned Mine Program
- RC&D
- Resource Conservation and Development
- RCRA
- Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
- reclamation
- Restoration of mined land to original contour, use, or condition. Also describes the return of land to alternative uses that may, under certain circumstances, be different from those prior to mining.
- record of decision
- Under NEPA, a concise public record that states what an agency's decision was, identifies all alternatives considered by the agency and the factors considered by the agency, and states whether all practicable means to avoid or minimize environmental harm from the alternative selected have been adopted or if not, why not.
- redox
- Adjective identifying chemical reactions involving oxidation (and reduction).
- reserved lands
- Federal lands which are dedicated to or set aside for a specific purpose or program and which are, therefore, generally not subject to disposition under the operation of all of the public land laws.
- reserve
- The quantity of mineral demonstrated to be present and known to be economically producible.
- RMMLF
- Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation
- RO
- Reverse Osmosis
S
- saleable minerals
- A legal term that defines mineral commodities that are sold by contract from the Federal Government. These are generally construction materials and aggregates.
- sedimentary
- A rock composed of sediments, or ores formed during a process of sedimentation.
- SERC
- State Emergency Response Commission
- SMARA
- California Surface Mined Lands Reclamation Act
- SMCRA
- Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act
- SME
- Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc.
- SMRD
- Surface Mining Reclamation Division
- SRF
- State Revolving Fund
- SRI
- Superfund Redevelopment Initiative
- suction dredge
- A dredge in which the material is lifted by pumping through a suction pipe.
T
- tailings
- The waste from mineral beneficiation. They are usually regarded as liabilities, but under some circumstances they may be reprocessed to recover additional values.
- TASWER
- Tribal Association on Solid Waste and Emergency Response
- TBA
- Targeted Brownfields Assessment
- technically prescriptive standards
- standards expressed in terms of the techniques to be applied. See also "performance-based standards."
- TSS
- Total Suspended Solids
U
- UMTRA
- Uranium Mills Tailing Remedial Action
- UMTRCA
- Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act
- uncommon variety minerals
- Mineral materials that have a special quality, quantity, character, or location that makes them of unique commercial value. On public lands such minerals are locatable under the Mining Law of 1872, as amended.
- unnecessary or undue
- A surface disturbance greater than what would normally result when an activity is being accomplished by a prudent operator in usual, customary, and proficient operations of similar character and taking into consideration the effects of operations on other resources and land uses, including those resources and uses outside the area of operations. Failure to initiate and complete reasonable mitigation measures, including reclamation of disturbed areas or creation of a nuisance, may constitute unnecessary or undue degradation. Failure to comply with applicable environmental protection statutes and regulations thereunder will constitute unnecessary or undue degradation. Where specific statutory authority requires the attainment of a stated level of protection or reclamation, such as in the California Desert Conservation Area, Wild and Scenic Rivers, areas designated as part of the National Wilderness System administered by the Bureau of Land Management and other such areas, that level of protection shall be met.
- URP
- Urban Resources Partnership
- USACE
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
- USDA
- U.S. Department of Agriculture
- USDOI
- U.S. Department of the Interior
- USFS
- U.S. Forest Service
- USFWS
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
- USGS
- U.S. Geological Survey
V
W
- waste
- The part of an ore deposit that is too low grade to be of economic value at the time of mining, but which may be stored separately for possible treatment later.
- water table
- The surface separating the zone that is water-saturated from the zone containing air that is freely connected to the atmosphere.
- weathering
- The process of decomposition of rocks or ores through the action of air and water.
- WGA
- Western Governors' Association
- withdrawal
- Segregation of particular lands from the operation of specified public land laws, making those laws (including the mineral location and leasing laws) inapplicable to the withdrawn lands.
X
Y
Z
Definitions from Hardrock Mining on Federal Lands 
. National Research Council, Committee on Hardrock Mining on Federal Lands, Committee on Earth Resources, Board on Earth Sciences and Resources, Commission on Geosciences, Environment, and Resources: NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS, Washington, D.C. 1999.