6 Key Terms

Question 1

Block caving

Answer 1

Underground mining that involves building a concrete-lined tunnel under an ore deposit, then collecting the ore through openings in the liner.

Question 2

Carats per hundred metric tons (cpht)

Answer 2

Measure of a mine’s productivity based on the carat weight of the rough diamonds it produces per 100 metric tons of ore.

Question 3

Dense media separation

Answer 3

A recovery process that separates diamonds from lighter material. Also called heavy media separation.

Question 4

Drift

Answer 4

A horizontal tunnel drilled through a diamond pipe.

Question 5

Grease belt

Answer 5

An apparatus that uses diamonds’ affinity for grease to separate them from other minerals.

Question 6

Open-pit mining

Answer 6

Removal of mineral-bearing ore from a large surface excavation.

Question 7

Overburden

Answer 7

Sand, gravel, or rock that covers a diamond pipe. Must be removed to reach diamond bearing ore.

Question 8

Primary crushing

Answer 8

Reduction of newly mined ore to a manageable size.

Question 9

Recovery

Answer 9

Any method used to separate diamonds from ore or alluvial sediments.

Question 10

Scrubber

Answer 10

An apparatus that washes away dirt and clay from diamond-bearing ore.

Question 11

X-ray separation

Answer 11

A recovery method that uses X-rays to detect diamonds and an air jet to remove them from ore.