GLOSSARY OF TERMS 



USED IN CONNECTION WITH PROSPECTING, MINING, 

 MINERALOGY, ASSAYING, ETC. 



A. 



Ac i CULAR Needle-shaped. 



ADAMANTINE Of diamond lustre. 



ADIT A horizontal entrance to a mine driven from the side of a hill. 



AGATE Name given to certain siliceous minerals. 



ALKALIES Potash, soda (and also ammonia and lithia). Alkalies 



turn vegetable blue, green ; and vegetable yellow, reddish brown. 



Blues reddened by an acid are restored by an alkali. Alkalies 



neutralize acids and with them form salts. They precipitate 



hydrates from their salts. 

 ALLOY A mixture of metals by fusion. 

 ALLUVIAL DEPOSIT A deposit formed of matter washed down or 



otherwise transported by a natural agency from higher ground. 

 ALUMINOUS Containing alumina. 

 AMALGAM A mixture of mercury with another metal, usually gold 



or silver. 

 AMALGAMATION The process of uniting mercury with gold or silver 



in an ore. 



AMORPHOUS Without any crystallization or definable form. 

 AMURANG (Ceylon) Gold ore. 

 ANALYSIS (in Chemistry) An examination of the substance to find out 



the nature of the component parts and their quantities. The 



former is called qualitative and the latter quantitative analysis. 

 ANHYDROUS Without water in its composition. 

 ANTICLINAL (See Chap. II.) 



AQUAFORTIS Name formerly applied to nitric acid. 

 AQUA REGIA A mixture of nitric and muriatic acid. One volume of 



strong nitric to three or four of hydrochloric acid is a good mix- 

 ture. 



ARBORESCENT Of a tree-like form. 

 ARENACEOUS Sandy. 

 ARENG (Borneo) Auriferous pay dirt. 

 ARGENTIFEROUS Silver-bearing. 

 ARGILLACEOUS Clayey. 

 ARRASTRA An appliance used for ore-reducing. The ore placed on 



a hard platform is crushed by means of mules dragging round 



large stones. 



