Crossword clues for gangue
gangue
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Gangue \Gangue\, n. [F. gangue, fr. G. gang a metallic vein, a passage. See Gang, n.] (Mining) The mineral or earthy substance associated with metallic ore.
Wiktionary
n. (context mining English) The earthy waste substances occurring in metallic ore.
Wikipedia
In mining, gangue is the commercially worthless material that surrounds, or is closely mixed with, a wanted mineral in an ore deposit. It is thus distinct from overburden, which is the waste rock or materials overlying an ore or mineral body that are displaced during mining without being processed.
The separation of mineral from gangue is known as mineral processing, mineral dressing or ore dressing and it is a necessary and often significant aspect of mining. It can be a complicated process, depending on the nature of the minerals involved. For example, galena, an ore of lead, is usually found in large pieces within its gangue, so it does not normally need extensive processing to remove it; but cassiterite, the chief ore of tin, is usually disseminated as very small crystals throughout its gangue, so when it is mined from hard rock, the ore-bearing rock first needs to be crushed very finely, and then has to be subjected to sophisticated processes to separate the ore.
For any particular ore deposit, and at any particular point in time, the concentration of the wanted mineral(s) in the gangue material will determine whether it is commercially viable to mine that deposit. The ease with which the ore can be separated also plays an important part. Early mining ventures, with their relatively unsophisticated methods, often could not achieve a high degree of separation, so significant quantities of minerals found their way into the tailings dumps of mines. As the value of a mineral increases, or when new and cheaper means of processing the ore are introduced it has often become worthwhile to rework such old dumps to retrieve the minerals they still contain.
Usage examples of "gangue".
The black tin weighed by the vanner is supposed to correspond in quality with the black tin returned from the floors of the mine for which he is assaying, but this differs materially in different mines with the nature of the gangue.
I have assumed in the calculations that the grains of copper pyrites, for example, were all copper pyrites and the particles of gangue were free from copper.
It is a common gangue mineral in metalliferous deposits, and in the form of crystals is often associated with ores of lead, iron, copper and silver.
When the nature of the impurities will allow it, this process may be shortened to first filtering off the gangue, then precipitating with sulphuretted hydrogen and washing the precipitate on the filter first with water and then with ammonium sulphide.
The more strictly chemical methods are rendered troublesome by the oxide being insoluble in acids, resembling in this respect the gangue with which it is associated.
And that with ores almost free from gangue some quartz or glass should be added to protect the crucible.
Should you see a yellow bilious creature with bloated fausicles, gills crusted with gangue, an impacted clote, who is thereby at fault?
Cugel worked until midnight with his cutters, burnishing irons and reamer, then treated pust, gangue, and timp.