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GLOSSARY
acid mine drainage (AMD) - water polluted with high acidity, sulfates, and minerals, formed when sulfites are exposed to oxygen and water.
hardrock mining - extracting metals such as gold, silver, zinc, and lead from mineral bearing rock.
heap leach - a process of recovering minerals by leaching ore piles with chemical agents to separate minerals from the rock ore.
heavy metals - chemical substances which are toxic to humans and wildlife such as lead, cadmium, and arsenic.
location - the process involving posting a notice and staking the boundaries of a claim, and filing appropriately with local recorders (usually county), and with federal agencies (usually BLM). This process is necessary to establish a valid unpatented mining claim.
lode claim - aggregations or veins of minerals embedded in rock.
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) - primary law providing for public participation in federal-agency decision making. NEPA requires that federal agencies prepare an environmental assessment (EA), or environmental impact statement (EIS), disclosing alternative action affecting the environment.
notice operations - mining activities that will disturb less than five acres in a year. BLM is notified but approval is not required.
patent - a grant of full private ownership to a parcel of land and the underlying minerals allowing the patent holder to use the land and minerals for any legal use.
placer claim - unaggregated mineral deposits in loose soil.
plan of operations - the outline of the proposed mining activity. The USFS or BLM evaluate the plan of operations through the NEPA process.
reclamation - the process of repairing lands disturbed by mining operations.
restoration - the process of returning lands disturbed by mining to their approximate pre-mining condition.
riparian areas - land adjacent to a stream or other body of water, including the vegetation influenced by the body of water.
staking - clear, on-the-ground marking of the boundaries of a mining claim, required as part of the location process.
valuable deposit - a mineral deposit which meets marketability and profitability tests.
tailings - mine waste consisting of earthen rock materials remaining after a valuable mineral is removed from ore. A tailings pond stores mine tailings that are partially in liquid form.
withdrawal - law, executive order, or administrative order which makes a parcel of federal land unavailable for mineral exploration and development.
Updates and status reports can be found at: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-2262
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