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Oil, Gas & Mining vocabulary · Exploration & Geology

Deposit

Meaning in oil, gas & mining, with examples

/dɪˈpɑːzɪt/nounCore term

In oil, gas & mining, deposit means: A natural concentration of a mineral, metal, coal, oil or gas in the earth that may be large and rich enough to be worth mining or producing.

In Turkish: yatak, maden yatağı, cevher yatağı

How it is used

Geologists describe deposits by type (porphyry copper deposit, gold deposit), size and grade. A deposit is discovered, defined by drilling, evaluated and developed. In oil and gas, 'accumulation' or 'field' is more usual, but 'oil deposit' appears in general writing.

Example sentences

  1. The company discovered a large copper deposit about 200 metres below the surface.

  2. New drilling has extended the gold deposit to the east.

Common collocations

  • mineral deposit
  • ore deposit
  • coal deposit
  • discover a deposit
  • develop a deposit
  • ore bodyA continuous mass of ore in the ground with a known shape, size and grade that can be mined as a unit.
  • explorationThe work of searching for new oil, gas or mineral deposits, using geological mapping, geophysical surveys, sampling and test drilling.
  • gradeThe amount of valuable metal or mineral in a rock, usually given as a percentage (for copper) or in grams per tonne (for gold and silver).
  • reservesThe amount of oil, gas or ore that is known to exist and can be produced at a profit with current technology and prices, estimated under set rules.
  • assayA laboratory test that measures how much gold, copper or another metal a rock, soil or concentrate sample contains.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Exploration & Geology

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