Okuzeka
Oil, Gas & Mining vocabulary · Exploration & Geology

Ore body

Meaning in oil, gas & mining, with examples

nounCommon term

In oil, gas & mining, ore body means: A continuous mass of ore in the ground with a known shape, size and grade that can be mined as a unit.

In Turkish: cevher kütlesi, cevherleşme

How it is used

Also written orebody. Geologists model the ore body in 3D from drill holes and talk about its strike, dip, width and depth. Mine planners choose a mining method that fits the shape of the ore body.

Example sentences

  1. The ore body is about 30 metres wide and dips steeply to the north.

  2. Drilling showed that the ore body continues below 600 metres.

Common collocations

  • ore body model
  • define the ore body
  • massive ore body
  • ore body geometry
  • oreRock that contains enough of a valuable metal or mineral to be mined and processed at a profit, for example iron ore or copper ore.
  • depositA 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.
  • 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).
  • core sampleA long cylinder of rock cut out by a hollow drill bit and brought to the surface so geologists can study and test the rock as it was underground.
  • underground mineA mine where ore or coal is reached through shafts, declines or tunnels and extracted below the surface, used when the deposit is too deep for an open pit.

More terms: Exploration & Geology

Practise with graded reading

Reading at the right level is the fastest way to make new words stick. Pick free English books by level: