As cobalt is a major by-product from copper production and the two are often mined and traded in the same region by the same companies, the two minerals are often referred to as 2C.
Acid mine drainage (AMD) is the runoff produced when water comes in contact with exposed rocks containing sulphur-bearing minerals that react with water and air to form sulfuric acid and dissolved iron. This acidic run-off dissolves heavy metals including copper, lead, and mercury which pollute ground and surface water. Acid mine drainage is a major cause of polluted water and can have significant impacts for water biodiversity.
A metal that is made by mixing two or more metals, or a metal and another substance.
An Anode is the negative or reducing electrode that releases electrons into an external circuit and oxidizes during and electrochemical reaction. It forms part of the wet battery system used for automatise batteries used in electric vehicles.
Formal or informal mining operations with predominantly simplified forms of exploration, extraction, processing, and transportation. ASM is normally low capital intensive and uses high labour-intensive technology. “ASM” can include men and women working on an individual basis as well as those working in family groups, in partnership, or as members of cooperatives or other types of legal associations and enterprises involving hundreds or even thousands of miners. For example, it is common for work groups of 4-10 individuals, sometimes in family units, to share tasks at one single point of mineral extraction (e.g., excavating one tunnel). At the organisational level, groups of 30-300 miners are common, extracting jointly one mineral deposit (e.g., working in different tunnels), and sometimes sharing processing facilities.
A soft, greyish-white material that does not burn, used especially in the past in buildings, clothing, etc. as a protection against fire and as a form of insulation (= a way of stopping heat from escaping).
A continuous moving strip or surface that is used for transporting objects from one place to another.
A stage / activity / risk area in the value chain which cannot be fully assessed based on lack of available information, either because of limited access or lacking existing analysis.
Magnesium-rich silicate ore.
The process of heating a substance to a high temperature but below the melting or fusing point, causing loss of moisture, reduction or oxidation, and dissociation into simpler substances. The term was originally applied to the method of driving off carbon dioxide from limestone to obtain lime (calcium oxide). Calcination is also used to extract metals from ores.
A term used in the mining industry to describe processes and conditions on a closed mine site where there is potential to recommence operations at a later date.
A Cathode is the positive or oxidizing electrode that acquires electrons from an external circuit and is reduced during the electrochemical reaction.
A solid, grey substance that is burned as a fuel, left after coal is heated and the gas and tar removed.
Production of component parts by injecting molten alloy into a metal mould.
Magnesium-rich ore (calcium magnesium carbonate).
The use of an electric current to cause chemical change in a liquid.
An alloy of iron with some element other than carbon, used to introduce the element in the manufacture of steel.
An alloy formed by combining iron and molybdenum. Used most commonly in high-strength low alloys and stainless steels. The addition of ferromolybdenum to a material improves its weldability, prevents corrosion and increases wear resistance and ferrite strength. Can be used in cast irons, high-speed tool steels and superalloy applications. Used in different transportation applications, including for cars, trucks, trains and ships.
FPIC is a specific right that pertains to Indigenous Peoples and is recognized in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. It allows them to give or withhold consent to a project that may affect them or their territories. Once they have given their consent, they can withdraw it at any stage. Furthermore, FPIC enables them to negotiate the conditions under which the project will be designed, implemented, monitored and evaluated.
Method that uses chemicals to selectively float and recover the valuable manganese minerals.
Unwanted material or impurities in the form of sand, rock or any other material that surrounds the mineral in an ore deposit.
A form of carbon consisting of planar sheets which are one atom thick, with the atoms arranged in a honeycomb-shaped lattice. 'Graphite has a crystal structure consisting of hundreds of thousands of one-atom-thick carbon sheets known as graphene. In short, graphenea is a single, one atom thick layer of the commonly found mineral graphite.
Method to recover denser manganese-bearing minerals from less dense gangue minerals.
Large scale mining or industrial mining involved organised, formal and legal professional operations managed by a corporation. It is characterised by hired labour and significant asset value. These operations also highly mechanised and less labour-intensive.
Tropical weathering (laterization) is a prolonged process of chemical weathering that produces a wide variety or ore grades, thicknesses and chemistries. Most lateritic ore is in the tropics and sub-tropics. Nickel laterite ores are the weathering products of ultramafic rock exposed in a tropical to sub-tropical climate, leading to the destruction of nickel-bearing minerals. Typical nickel laterite ore deposits are very large tonnage, low-grade deposits located close to the surface.
Leverage is an advantage that gives power to influence. In the context of the Guiding Principles, it refers to the ability of a business enterprise to effect change in the wrongful practices of another party that is causing or contributing to an adverse human rights impact.
Permanent neurological disorder caused by inhalation of manganese-rich dust.
The activity of cutting metal or making it into particular shapes using a special machine, or of crushing grain into flour.
Magnesium-rich silicate ore
Open-pit mining, or open-cast mining is a surface mining technique of extracting rock or minerals from the earth by their removal from an open pit or borrow.
Soil or rock overlying a mineral deposit or another underground feature.
Thermal reduction process to produce magnesium ingots.
There is a different terminology in the US than the rest of the world – in the US they mean by recyclers the companies that take vehicles, shred them and process them mechanically, then the shredded material gets into still mini mills, in the US they call still mini mills consumers, elsewhere they call mini mills recyclers and the shred process, they call them pre-treatment
An industrial waste generated during the processing of bauxite into alumina using the Bayer process.
Production of component parts by injecting molten alloy into a sand mould.
A place where old vehicles and machines are collected and either sold or prepared for being used again.
Magnesium-rich silicate ore
Waste material produced when coal is dug from the ground, or a substance produced by mixing chemicals with metal that has been heated until it is liquid in order to remove unwanted substances from it.
A mixture of water and small pieces of a solid, especially such a mixture used in an industrial or farming process.
A two-stage hydrometallurgical process that first extracts and upgrades copper ions from low-grade leach solutions into a solvent containing a chemical that selectively reacts with and binds the copper in the solvent.
A mineral and ore of zinc, known as zinc sulfide. Usually contains some iron or cadmium, and can occur in yellow, brown or black crystals. The primary ore of zinc, sphalerite can be found in metamorphic, sedimentary or igneous rocks. The most common form of zinc found, it is also known as zinc blende, blackjack, steel jack and "osin jack.
Sulphide ores were mostly created by molten magma from the Earth's mantle pushing into the Earth's crust and the formation of localized metal-rich sulphide ore bodies. A number of these bodies are rich in nickel, which can thus be extracted from these ores.
Tailings is the waste resulting from the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction (gangue) of an ore. Tailings are distinct from overburden, which is the waste rock or other material that overlies an ore or mineral body and is displaced during mining without being processed.
A business enterprise’s value chain encompasses the activities that convert input into output by adding value. It includes entities with which it has a direct or indirect business relationship and which either (a) supply products or services that contribute to the enterprise’s own products or services, or (b) receive products or services from the enterprise