Glossary of Terms

Anomaly: Any departure from the norm which may indicate the presence of mineralization in underlying bedrock.

Arsenopyrite (FeAsS): A mineral famous for its distinctive crystals, it is silver-white to gray and is also called mispickel.  It is often associated with gold mineralization.

Assay: A chemical test performed on a sample of ore or mineral to determine its components.

Bedrock: Solid rock forming the earth’s crust, frequently covered by soil or water.

Chalcopyrite (CuFeS2 ): A common ore mineral of copper, it is a sulfide mineral of copper and iron.

Deposit: A natural occurrence of useful minerals in sufficient concentration to warrant development.

Dike: A discordant tabular body of igneous rock that was injected into a fissure when molten and which usually has a high angle of dip. It should not be confused with a vein.

Exploration: Prospecting, sampling, mapping, diamond drilling and other work involved in searching for ore.  Exploration is aimed at locating the presence of economic deposits and establishing their nature, shape, and grade.

Fault: A break in the earth’s crust caused by tectonic forces which have moved rock on one side with respect to the other; displacement along the fault may vary from centimeters to miles.

Feldspar (NaAlSi308 – CaAl2Si2O8, KAlSi3O8): A group of rock-forming minerals which includes microcline, orthoclase, plagioclase and anorthoclase.

Felsic: Term used to describe rocks of granitic/rhyolitic composition containing mostly light colored minerals such as quartz and feldspars.

Galena (PbS): A sulfide mineral of lead occurring as gray cubic crystals.

Geochemistry: The study of how chemical elements and their ratios and patterns relate to rocks and geological processes.

Geologist: One who studies the origin, history, structure, and other related aspects of the earth.

Geology: The science concerned with the study of the rocks which compose the earth.

Glacial Deposit: Pertaining to rock materials that have been transported and deposited by glaciers.

Gossan: Rust-colored oxide and hydroxide minerals of iron and manganese that cap an ore deposit.  Gossans form by the oxidation of the sulfide minerals in an ore deposit and they may then be used as clues to the existence of subsurface ore deposits.

Hinge: Refers to an imaginary line about which the rocks appear to be bent or where opposite limbs of a fold converge.

Igneous: Rocks formed by solidification of molten material that originated within the earth.

Intercept: The portion between two points in a borehole.

Intrusive rock: A body of igneous rock formed by the intrusion of magma into other rocks.

Limb: Either flank of a geologic fold.

Metallurgy: The science and technology of extracting metals from their ores and refining the metals.

Metamorphic Rocks: Rocks which have undergone a change in texture or composition as the result of heat and pressure.

Mineral: A naturally occurring, inorganic compound with a distinctive set of physical properties and a definite chemical composition.

Mineral Rights:  A right to extract a mineral from the earth or to receive payment, in the form of royalty, for the extraction of minerals. A mineral right is part of property rights and may be sold, transferred, or leased in a similar manner as other property rights. Mineral rights are distinct from “surface rights”, or the right to the use of the surface of the land for residential, agricultural, recreational, commercial, or other purposes. Mineral rights may be sold or retained separately from the surface rights, in which case the mineral rights are said to be “severed.” The ownership of the mineral rights in a parcel can usually be determined by examining the deed abstract for the property.

Mineralization: The emplacement and occurrence of economically important or otherwise interesting minerals.

National Instrument (NI) 43-101: Canadian guidelines for how companies can disclose scientific and technical information about mineral projects. Disclosures include press releases, presentations, oral comments and websites.     

Ore: A rock or mineral of sufficient value to be mined at a profit.    

Outcrop: Bedrock at or above the ground's surface.

Polymetallic: Substance comprised of a combination of different metals.  Polymetallic ore is an ore with more than one metal suitable for recovery.   

Porphyry: An igneous rock with large crystals in a fine-grained matrix.

Pyrite (FeS2): A brass-yellow or brown mineral with a greenish or brownish-black streak, often called fool’s gold.

Penokean Volcanic Belt  (PVB): A major early Proterozoic geologic region that is exposed in north-central Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  It is typically viewed as the remnants of collision between Archean continental crust to the north and volcanic arc terrane(s) to the south.

Rhyolite: A fine-grained (extrusive) igneous rock which has the same chemical composition as granite.  

Rock: Any naturally formed aggregate of minerals constituting an essential and appreciable part of the earth’s crust.  The vast majority of rocks consist of two or more minerals.

Sediment: Solid material, both mineral and organic, that has been eroded and transported from its site of origin by air, water, or ice and has come to rest on the earth’s surface.

Sedimentary Rocks:  Rocks formed from sediments.

Silicious: Describing a rock containing or resembling silica, usually quartz.

Sphalerite  (ZnS): The major ore mineral of zinc; when pure (little or no iron) it forms clear crystals, usually red, but as iron content increases it forms dark, opaque lustrous crystals.

Sulfide: A compound of sulfur and other elements.

Supergene: A natural, near surface process by which original sulfide minerals are chemically weathered (oxidized) by downward percolating water and reprecipitated as new minerals often enriched in metal content.

Tectonic: Pertaining to geologic structures such as faults and folds and the forces and movements within the earth.

Tonne: A measurement of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms or 2204.6226 pounds. 

Tuff: Rock consisting of consolidated volcanic ash ejected from vents during a volcanic eruption.

Tuffaceous: Characteristic of, pertaining to, containing, or resembling tuff.

Volcanogenic Massive Sulfide (VMS): Type of metal sulfide ore deposit associated with and created by volcanic associated hydrothermal events in submarine environments. They occur within environments dominated by volcanic or volcanic derived rocks, and the deposits are coeval and coincident with the formation of volcanic rocks.