Undiscovered resources
Potential supplies of a particular mineral resource, believed to exist because of geologic knowledge and theory, although specific locations, quality, and amounts are unknown. Compare identified resources, reserves.
Subject:
Chapter 15 - Geologic Resources: Nonrenewable Mineral and Energy Resources
tar sand
Deposit of a mixture of clay, sand, water, and varying amounts of a tarlike heavy oil known as bitumen. Bitumen can be extracted from tar sand by heating. It is then purified and upgraded to synthetic crude oil. See bitumen.
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tailings
Rock and other waste materials removed as impurities when waste mineral material is separated from the metal in an ore.
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synthetic natural gas (SNG)
Gaseous fuel containing mostly methane produced from solid coal.
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synfuels
Synthetic gaseous and liquid fuels produced from solid coal or sources other than natural gas or crude oil.
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surface mining
Removing soil, subsoil, and other strata and then extracting a mineral deposit found fairly close to the earth's surface. See area strip mining, contour strip mining, mountaintop removal, open-pit mining. Compare subsurface mining.
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subsurface mining
Extraction of a metal ore or fuel resource such as coal from a deep underground deposit. Compare surface mining.
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strip mining
Form of surface mining in which bulldozers, power shovels, or stripping wheels remove large chunks of the earth's surface in strips. See area strip mining, contour strip mining, surface mining. Compare subsurface mining.
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spoils
Unwanted rock and other waste materials produced when a material is removed from the earth's surface or subsurface by mining, dredging, quarrying, and excavation.
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smelting
Process in which a desired metal is separated from the other elements in an ore mineral.
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