- Industry: Mining
- Number of terms: 33118
- Number of blossaries: 0
- Company Profile:
The U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) was the primary United States Government agency conducting scientific research and disseminating information on the extraction, processing, use, and conservation of mineral resources.
Founded on May 16, 1910, through the Organic Act (Public Law 179), USBM's missions ...
A soft, earthy, typically clay-rich, thoroughly decomposed rock, formed in place by chemical weathering of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks. It often forms a layer or cover as much as 100 m thick, esp. in humid and tropical or subtropical climates; the color is commonly some shade of red or brown, but it may be white or gray. Saprolite is characterized by preservation of structures that were present in the unweathered rock.
Industry:Mining
A soft, earthy, typically clay-rich, thoroughly decomposed rock, formed in place by chemical weathering of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks. It often forms a layer or cover as much as 100 m thick, esp. in humid and tropical or subtropical climates; the color is commonly some shade of red or brown, but it may be white or gray. Saprolite is characterized by preservation of structures that were present in the unweathered rock.
Industry:Mining
A soft, incompetent, fine-grained mass of quartz, pyrolusite, and kaolin with subangular fragments of chert, hematite, and goethite.
Industry:Mining
A soft, light, earthy substance consisting of fine-grained silica resulting from the decomposition of siliceous shale-on limestone. It is used for polishing. Compare: diatomite
Industry:Mining
A soft, malleable, silver-rich variety of amalgam containing about 87% silver and 13% mercury; from Coquimbo, Chile.
Industry:Mining
A soft, silvery-white metallic element of the alkali group, the lightest of all metals. Symbol, Li. Does not occur free in nature; is found combined in small amounts in nearly all igneous rocks and in the waters of many mineral springs. Lepidolite, spodumene, petalite, and amblygonite are the more important minerals containing it. The metal is corrosive and requires special handling. Used as an alloying agent, in the synthesis of organic compounds, and for nuclear applications.
Industry:Mining
A soft, silvery-white, metallic element of the alkali metal group, closely resembling potassium. Symbol, Rb. Widely distributed in small quantities in nature. Obtained commercially from lepidolite and from potassium minerals. Forms amalgams with mercury and alloys with gold, cesium, sodium, and potassium. Has been considered for use in space vehicles, and for use in thermoelectric generators.
Industry:Mining
A soft, waxy stone--such as pinite, pyrophyllite, or steatite--of a gray, green, yellow, or brown shade; used by the Chinese to simulate jade for carving small images, miniature pagodas, and similar objects.
Industry:Mining
A soft, waxy stone--such as pinite, pyrophyllite, or steatite--of a gray, green, yellow, or brown shade; used by the Chinese to simulate jade for carving small images, miniature pagodas, and similar objects.
Industry:Mining
A soft, waxy stone--such as pinite, pyrophyllite, or steatite--of a gray, green, yellow, or brown shade; used by the Chinese to simulate jade for carving small images, miniature pagodas, and similar objects.
Industry:Mining
