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  Glossary of Terms
berm - an embankment of crushed and screened rock fill.
carat - unit of measurement for gemstones, equal to 200 milligrams or 0.2 grams. For smaller gems, 100 points is equal to one carat.
caustic fusion - destructive assaying technique involving dissolution in corrosive caustic acid to recover diamonds from a rock.
clinopyroxene - a type of pyroxene, any of a group of silicate minerals having the general formula ABSi2O6, where A is usually calcium, sodium, magnesium, or iron, and B is usually magnesium, iron, chromium, manganese, or aluminum. Pyroxenes occur in basic igneous rocks and some metamorphic rocks, and have colours ranging from white to dark green or black. They may be monoclinic (clinopyroxenes) or orthorhombic (orthopyroxenes) in crystal structure.
core - the long cylindrical piece of rock, about an inch in diameter, brought to surface by diamond drilling.
diabase dike - a crystalline dike with a diabase (dolerite) composition.
diamondiferous - containing diamonds.
diamonds - a crystallized variety of pure carbon that may be of gem quality.
dike - a temporary structure used to retain or restrict water flow.
dilution - the effect of waste or low-grade ore being included unavoidably in the mine ore, lowering the recovered grade.
eclogites - a coarse-grained ultramafic rock consisting of large bright red garnets in a greenish mixture of pyroxene, quartz, feldspar, etc. Its origin is thought to be intermediate between igneous and metamorphic.
eclogitic - characterizing rock with eclogite composition.
grade - number of carats (or other unit of weight) in a physical unit of ore, usually expressed in carats per tonne.
gravity low anomaly - a negative anomaly in the earth's local gravity field. This typically points to local deficit in mass in the local geology indicating regions underlain by light (low density) rocks.
gravity low coincident - (see above) conjunction of a feature with a gravity low anomaly.
hematite-sericite-serpentine alteration - alteration characterized by the presence of the minerals hematite (iron oxide), sericite (white mica) and serpentine (hydrated magnesium silicate).
hypabyssal - characteristic of rock derived from magma that has solidified close to the surface of the earth in the form of dykes, sills, etc.
inequigranular texture - A rock texture consisting of crystals of various size, by contrast to equigranular texture which is a rock composed of crystals of the same size.
intrusion/intrusive - a volume of igneous rock that has crystallized from a molten magma into the earth's crust or into other rocks.
kimberlite - uneven-grain, ultramafic rock in which the visible minerals may include olivine, phlogopite, pyrope garnet, picro-ilmenite and chrome/diopside, which are cemented by a groundmass that may include serpentine, calcite, and chromite. Kimberlite and olivine lamproite (a similar type of rock) are the only known types of intrusive rock (primary source rocks) that may carry diamonds from the depths of the earth to the surface and may form primary diamond deposits.
macrocryst - large mineral crystal within a finer rock matrix.
mantle xenolith - a rock fragment originating from the mantle.
mineral reserves:
- a mineral reserve is the economically mineable part of a measured or indicated mineral resource demonstrated by at least a preliminary feasibility study. This study must include adequate information on mining; and processing metallurgical, economic and other relevant factors that demonstrate, at the time of reporting, that economic extraction can be justified. A mineral reserve includes diluting materials and allowances for losses that may occur when the material is mined.
- proven mineral reserve: the part of a deposit which is being mined, or which is being developed and for which there is a detailed mining plan; the estimated quantity and grade or quality of that part of a measured mineral resource for which the size, configuration and grade or quality and distribution of values are so well established, and for which economic viability has been demonstrated by adequate information on engineering, operating, economic and other relevant factors, that there is the highest degree of confidence in the estimate.
- probable mineral reserve: the estimated quantity and grade or quality of that part of an indicated mineral resource for which economic viability has been demonstrated by adequate information on engineering, operating, economic and other relevant factors, at a confidence level which would serve as a basis for decisions on major expenditures.
mineral resources:
- a mineral resource is a concentration or occurrence of natural, solid, inorganic or fossilized organic material in or on the earth's crust in such form and quantity and of such a grade or quality that it has reasonable prospects for economic extraction. The location, quantity, grade, geological characteristics and continuity of a mineral resource are known, estimated or interpreted from specific geological evidence and knowledge.
- measured mineral resources: that part of a mineral resource for which quantity, grade or quality, densities, shape and physical characteristics are so well established that they can be estimated with confidence sufficient to allow the appropriate application of technical and economic parameters, to support production planning and evaluation of the economic viability of the deposit. The estimate is based on detailed and reliable exploration, sampling and testing information gathered through appropriate techniques from locations such as outcrops, trenches, pits, workings and drill holes that are spaced closely enough to confirm both geological and grade continuity.
- indicated mineral resources: that part of a mineral resource for which quantity, grade or quality, densities, shape and physical characteristics can be estimated with a level of confidence sufficient to allow the appropriate application of technical and economic parameters, to support mine planning and evaluation of the economic viability of the deposit. The estimate is based on detailed and reliable exploration and test information gathered through appropriate techniques from location such as outcrops, trenches, pits, workings and drill holes that are spaced closely enough for geological and grade continuity to be reasonably assumed.
open pit - a mine that is entirely on surface. Also referred to as an open-cut or open-cast mine.
outcrop - a segment of bedrock exposed to the atmosphere.
ovoid conductor - Electrical conductor shaped like an egg.
periodites - a dark coarse-grained ultramafic plutonic igneous rock consisting principally of olivine.
phenocrysts - relatively large conspicuous crystals set in a finer crystalline matrix in an igneous rock. Igneous rocks containing phenocrysts exhibit a porphyritic texture.
pipe - a common term for a vertical cylindrical or column-like mass of rock that cooled and solidified in the neck of a volcano.
pyrope - a deep yellowish-red garnet that consists of magnesium aluminum silicate.
qualified person - an individual who:
(a) is an engineer or geoscientist with at least five years' experience in mineral exploration, mine development or operation, or mineral project assessment, or any combination of these and (b) has experience relevant to the subject matter of the mineral project; and (c) is a member in good standing of a professional association as defined by National Instrument 43-101 of the Canadian Securities Administrators.
reclamation - the restoration of a site after mining or exploration activity is completed.
recovered grade - actual metal grade realized by the metallurgical process and treatment or ore, based on actual experience or laboratory testing.
recovery - a term used in process metallurgy to indicate the proportion of valuable material obtained in the processing of an ore. It is generally stated as a percentage of valuable metal in the ore that is recovered, compared to the total valuable metal present in the ore.
rock xenoliths - A rock fragment from a foreign origin.
rough diamonds - untreated stones in run-of-mine form, which have been boiled and cleaned.
sample - a small portion of rock or a mineral deposit, taken so that the metal content can be determined by assaying.
striae on outcrop - any of the parallel scratches or grooves on the surface of a rock over which a glacier has flowed.
till - a glaciogenic, surficial deposit composed of unsorted clay, sand and matrix-supported rock fragments.
ultramafic rocks - rock with generally low silica and high magnesium contents.
volcaniclastic breccia - a fragmental rock type consisting of volcanically derived rock fragment.
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