mineral deposit
Underground natural resource
A mineral deposit is a natural concentration of minerals in the earth's crust, typically one with enough economic value to be worth extracting.
Geologists survey for mineral deposits; mining companies develop them.
The term covers everything from gold veins to coal seams to ore bodies: The region's copper deposits have been mined for centuries.
- mother lodePrincipal ore deposit
- pay dirtValuable ore deposit
- oreMetal-bearing rock
- sedimentary rockLayered geological formation
- quartzCrystalline silicon dioxide
mining · lode · vein · placer · iron ore · igneous rock · metamorphic rock · salt flat · prospecting · mining claim · geology · metallurgy · resource extraction · smelting · drilling · open pit · shaft · tunnel
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