Glossary

A - E
  • AIRBORNE GEOPHYSICAL SURVEY - A survey where geophysical data are collected using an aircraft
  • AIRGRAV(tm) - A patented system developed by Bell Geosystems to measure variations of the earth's gravitational field from an aircraft
  • ALLUVIAL - Pertaining to silt, sand and gravel material transported by a river
  • ALTERATION - The change in the mineral composition of a rock commonly due to hydrothermal alteration
  • ANOMALY/ANOMALIES - An area/areas where exploration has revealed results higher than the local background
  • ANDESITE/ANDESITIC - A Mafic volcanic rock composed of calcic feldspar and one of more of the mafic minerals pyroxene, olivine and hornblende
  • Au - Chemical symbol for gold
  • BLEG - Bulk Leach Extractable Gold (stream sediment sampling method)
  • CSAMT - Controlled Source Audio Magneto Tellurics
  • DATA INTERVENTION - Collation, digitisation and interrogation of data
  • DDH - Diamond Drill Hole - A drilling method that uses drill bits coated with diamonds to recover solid cores of rock from below the ground surface. Holes drilled using this drilling method are commonly prefixed DDH to communicate the drilling method
  • DEPOSIT - A body of mineralisation that may or may not be economic to mine
  • EPITHERMAL - Pertaining to mineral veins and ore deposits formed from warm waters at shallow depth, at temperatures ranging from 50 to 200 degrees C and generally some distance from the magmatic source
  • EXPLORATION PERMIT (EP) - An Exploration Permit issued under the Crown Minerals Act 99 of New Zealand allows the holder to explore using mechanised methods but is subject to obtaining access to the land from the landowner
  • EXPOSURE(S) - Underlying rocks are exposed at surface, synonym for outcrop

F - O
  • FAULT - A fracture zone along which rocks on one side have moved relative to the other side
  • g/t - An abbreviation for grams per tonne, a unit of measurement of the concentration of metal in rock, equivalent to parts per million (ppm)
  • GEOCHEMICAL - Pertains to the concentration of an element
  • GEOPHYSICS/GEOPHYSICAL - The study of the physical properties of rocks, such as magnetism, conductivity and density: A method of exploration based on this by inferring geologic features from measurements of physical properties
  • GEOTHERMAL - A term to describe energy derived from the internal heat of the earth
  • GEOCHEMIST - A scientist who specialises in the chemical composition of rocks and the process that can change the chemical composition of rocks
  • GREENFIELDS EXPLORATION - An exploration term used to describe exploration in areas were no economic mineralisation has been previously discovered
  • GROUND VERIFICATION - Processes where physical evidence corroborates remote sensing techniques
  • HARD ROCK - Hard rock mining refers to various mining techniques used to excavate hard minerals such as those containing metals like gold, copper, zinc, nickel and lead or gems such as diamonds. In contrast soft rock mining refers to excavation of softer minerals such as coal, or oil sands
  • LITHOLOGY/LITHOLOGIES - The study and description of rocks, including their mineral composition and texture. Also used in reference to the compositional and textural characteristics of a rock
  • MESOTHERMAL - A hydrothermal mineral deposit formed at great depth at temperatures of 200 to 300 degrees C
  • MINERALISATION - The process by which minerals are introduced into rock. More generally a term applied to accumulations of economic or related minerals in quantities ranging from anomalous to economically recoverable
  • MIOCENE - A period of geologic time from 5.5 million years to 24 million years before present
  • NET SMELTER ROYALTY - A royalty that is a percentage of the mineral's value at the time of production/sale
  • OUNCE/OZ (Troy ounce) - Imperial measure of the weight of gold. One troy ounce is exactly equal to 31.1034768 grams
  • OUTCROPPING - Underlying rocks exposed at surface

P - Q
  • PLIOCENE - A period of geologic time from 8 million years to 5.5 million years before present
  • ppb - An abbreviation for parts per billion, a unit of measurement of the concentration of metal in rock or soil
  • ppm - An abbreviation for parts per million, a unit of measurement of the concentration of metal in rock or soil
  • PROSPECTING PERMIT (PP) - A Prospecting Permit issued under the Crown Minerals Act 99 of New Zealand allows the holder to explore by hand held methods only
  • PROSPECT - An area of a permit which has a demonstrated potential to host a resource
  • PROSPECTIVE - General term for the perceived potential for the discovery of resources based on the knowledge of factors such as favourable geological setting, structures, alteration, geochemical and or geophysical responses, and occurrences of mineralisation
  • PROVINCE - An area, region or district of similar geology
  • QUARTZ - A common rock forming mineral composed of silicon dioxide
  • QUARTZ REEF - Old mining term used to describe large quartz veins
  • QUARTZ VEINS - A tabular quartz infill of a fissure or crack in a rock

R - Z
  • RC - A drilling method that uses a hammer driven by compressed air to collect a sample from below the earth's surface and which is returned to surface inside the drill rods to reduce contamination. This drilling process is called Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling and drill holes are commonly prefixed RC to communicate the drilling method
  • RAB (Rotary Air Blast) - a relatively inexpensive and less accurate drilling technique involving the collection of a sample from below the earth surface where the sample is returned to surface by compressed air outside the drilling rods
  • RADIOMETRIC SURVEY - A geophysical survey technique in which measurements are made of variations of natural radioactivity of the earth's surface
  • RESISTIVITY - A measure of how difficult it is to pass an electrical current between two points
  • RESISTIVITY SURVEY - A geophysical survey technique in which measurements are made of natural variations of the earth's subsurface resistivity
  • RESOURCE - An identified in situ mineral occurrence from which valuable or useful minerals may be recovered. Mineral resources are divided into Inferred, Indicated and measured categories according to the JORC code (an industry standard for reporting)
  • sq km - Square kilometres
  • STRATIGRAPHIC - A term to describe the sequence of rock layers found in a specific geographic area, arranged in the order of their deposition
  • STRIKE - The orientation of a layer of rock or geologic structure in the horizontal plane
  • SUBDUCTION - The process of convergence of two tectonic plates one of which usually overrides the other
  • WORLD CLASS - In the context of a gold deposit, a world class deposit is one which via a combination of historic mining and current resources has/had resources in excess of 5 million ounces.


CCVR - the Coromandel (Hauraki) /Central Volcanic Region
CVR - Central Volcanic Region
GENZL - Glass Earth (New Zealand) Limited
HPD - HPD New Zealand Limited

Other Expressions
Metric and Imperial Units - Conversion from metric units into imperial equivalents is as follows:
Metric Units Imperial Units
Hectare (ha) 2.47 acres
Metre (m) 3.28 feet
Kilometre (km) 0.62 miles (3,28 feet)