Terms

Mining practices that minimise environmental, social and economic impacts while maximising long-term value.

Hydrometallurgical process used to produce copper cathode from leach solutions.

Residual slurry of fine waste left after valuable minerals are extracted. Stored in tailings dams or dry-stack facilities.

Engineered structure to store tailings slurry. Requires geotechnical design, monitoring and strict safety standards.

Density of tailings slurry, influencing pumpability, deposition behaviour and dam stability.

Integrated system for storing tailings, including dam walls, embankments, pipelines, monitoring networks and water-management infrastructure.

Accumulation of broken rock fragments at the base of steep slopes or cliffs. Useful indicator of slope instability.

Rare metal mainly sourced from coltan. Used in capacitors, aerospace alloys and electronics. Critical mineral due to supply concentration.

Geodynamic environment (rift, subduction zone, craton, arc) that controls mineral deposit formation.

Minerals composed of metal + tellurium, often hosting high-grade gold (e.g., calaverite, sylvanite).

Facility where ores or concentrates are melted to separate metals from gangue through high-temperature processes.

Leading professional society supporting mining engineers, geologists and metallurgists through publications, standards and training.