Mining Glossary U-Z
Umpire sample or assay - An assay made by a third party to provide a basis for settling disputes between buyers and sellers of ore.
Uncut value - The actual assay value of a core sample as opposed to a cut value which has been reduced by some arbitrary formula.
Underwrite - A firm commitment made by a broker or other financial institution to purchase a block of shares at a specified price.
Uraninite - A uranium mineral with a high uranium oxide content. Frequently found in pegmatite dykes.
Uranium - A radioactive, silvery-white, metallic element.
Vein - A fissure, fault or crack in a rock filled by minerals that have travelled upwards from some deep source.
Vendor - A seller. In the case of mining companies, the consideration paid for properties purchased is often a block of treasury shares. These shares are termed vendor shares and are normally pooled or escrowed.
Visible gold - Native gold which is discernible, in a hand specimen, to the unaided eye.
Volcanic rocks - Igneous rocks formed from magma that has flowed out or has been violently ejected from a volcano.
Volcanogenic - A term used to describe the volcanic origin of mineralization.
Voting right - The stockholder's right to vote in the affairs of the company. Most common shares have one vote each. Preferred stock usually has the right to vote when preferred dividends are in default.
Vug - A small cavity in a rock, frequently lined with well-formed crystals. Amethyst commonly forms in these cavities.
Wall rocks - Rock units on either side of an orebody. The hanging wall and footwall rocks of an orebody.
Warrant - See Rights.
Waste - Unmineralized, or sometimes mineralized, rock that is not minable at a profit.
Wedge - A technique of directing a diamond drill hole in a desired direction away from its current orientation.
Winze - An internal shaft.
Witness post - A claim post placed on a claim line when it cannot be placed in the corner of a claim because of water or difficult terrain.
Working capital - The liquid resources a company has to meet day-to-day expenses of operation; defined as the excess of current assets over current liabilities.
Writeoffs - Amounts deducted from a company's reported profit for depreciation or preproduction costs. Writeoffs are not an out-of-pocket expense, but reduce the amount of taxable profit.
Xenolith - A fragment of country rock enclosed in an intrusive rock.
Yield - The current annual dividend rate expressed as a percentage of the current market price of the stock.
Zone - An area of distinct mineralization.
Zone of oxidation - The upper portion of an orebody that has been oxidized.
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