FACTS & FIGURES

Adit: An entrance to a mine, generally a horizontal tunnel.
Cross-cut: A horizontal tunnel driven perpendicular to the main direction of a vein for the purpose of transiting to an ore body.
Decline: A tunnel-like underground opening sloping downward which is excavated to access certain deeper areas for mining purposes.
Doré (pronounced doray): An amalgam of metals containing gold. Mineral Ridge mine produces dore which typically averages about 55% gold and 45% silver plus other trace minerals. The dore is formed into bars and shipped to smelters for further refining and sale. It is often light-gold in color indicating the presence of other metals such as silver.
Drift: An underground tunnel which follows the course of a vein allowing access to the ore and a pathway for removing it to the surface.
Footwall: The wall or rock on the underside of a stope.
Gallery: A drift that has been enlarged into an underground room by the extraction of ore.
Gangue (pronounced ganj): The valueless or unwanted components of an ore deposit.
Hanging Wall: The wall or rock on the upper side of an ore deposit.
Lode: An ore deposit occurring within definite boundaries separating it from the adjoining rock.
Ore: A mixture of minerals and gangue from which at least one of the minerals can be extracted at a profit.
Portal: An entrance to a mine, usually consisting of a structural frame supporting the opening
Shaft: A vertical entrance to a mine cut downward from the surface.
Stope: A step-like cut or excavation in the side of a decline or drift for the purpose of extracting ore.
Tailings: The rock and mineral waste product produced after extraction of commercially valuable materials from ore, usually through milling or smelting. Tailings often have the appearance of gravel or sand, and may require remediation efforts.
Vein: An opening, fissure, or crack in rock, containing mineralized material. A vein that breaks the surface can form an outcrop.
Waste: Rock containing no ore but removed in the course of mining operations.
MISCELLANEOUS FACTS
Molybdenite: The Ashdown Mine contains both elemental gold and elemental molybdenum. The moly exists in situ as molybdenum disulfide, also known as molybdenite. Golden Phoenix will extract and concentrate the molybdenite for sale to its sales broker. The international custom is to price moly concentrates in the form of molybdenum oxide which is derived by roasting molybdenite at high temperatures. Golden Phoenix’s brokerage contract calls for the purchase of molybdenite directly from the mill, which relieves the Company from converting its product to the oxide form. A price adjustment will be credited back to the broker for the cost of roasting and is renegotiated annually.
Super Sacks: Mineral concentrates are often packaged for shipment using Super Sacks. A Super Sack is a polypropylene fabric container that can hold as much as 4400 pounds of material. The sacks are designed to allow for rapid dumping of the contents from special openings in the bottom. They allow for easy, clean and safe handling of bulk materials and can often be reused.
Mucker: A mucker is a diesel powered earth-mover designed to travel inside narrow underground passages, such as drifts and declines. The typical mucker can carry between 1 and 5 tons of rock material at a time. The operator sits sideways to the direction of travel in order to see both ahead and behind. Muckers have been in use in the Mary Mine at Mineral Ridge and will be used in the Sylvia decline at Ashdown.  The term mucker can also refer to a person who operates the equipment.