Mining Terminology - H

Below stated terminology is the collection of terms that most commonly used by team of Rachana Global during its mining and exploration activities. This mining terminology is the standard form of mining terminology adapted by leading mining companies.

Hanging Wall - The wall or rock on the upper or topside of an ore deposit. 

Haulage - The horizontal transport of ore, coal, supplies, and waste.

Haulageway - Any underground entry or passageway that is designed for transport of mined material, personnel, or equipment, usually by the installation of track or belt conveyor.

Headframe - The structure surmounting the shaft which supports the hoist rope pulley, and often the hoist itself.

Heading – Heading is usually referred as a vein above a drift or an interior level or airway driven in a mine. In longwall workings it is a narrow passage driven upward from a gangway in starting a working in order to give a loose end.

Head Grade: The average grade of ore fed into a mill. 

Head section - A term used in both belt and chain conveyor work to designate that portion of the conveyor used for discharging material.

Heap Leaching - A process whereby valuable metals like gold and silver are leached from a heap of crushed ore by leaching solutions percolating down through the heap and collected from a sloping, impermeable liner below the pad.

Heaving - Applied to the rising of the bottom after removal of the coal; a sharp rise in the floor is called a "hogsback".

Hematite - An oxide of iron, and one of that metal's most common ore minerals. 

Highwall – The unexcavated face of exposed overburden and coal in a surface mine or in a face or bank on the uphill side of a contour mine excavation.

High Grade - Rich ore is usually termed as high grade ore.As a verb; it refers to selective mining of the best ore in a deposit.

Highwall miner – A highwall mining system consists of a remotely controlled continuous miner which extracts coal and conveys it via augers, belt or chain conveyors to the outside. The cut is typically a rectangular, horizontal cut from a highwall bench, reaching depths of several hundred feet or deeper.

Hogsback- A sharp rise in the floor of a seam.

Hoist - The machine used for raising and lowering the cage or other conveyance in a shaft.

Hoisting - The vertical transport coal or material.

Horst - An upfaulted block of rock.  

Host Rock - The rock surrounding an ore deposit is called host rock. 

Hydrocarbon – A class of compounds containing hydrogen and carbon formed by the decomposition of plant and animal remains, including coal, mineral oil, petroleum, natural gas, paraffin, the fossil resins, and the solid bitumens occurring in rocks. Gasoline is a mixture of hydrocarbons.