Glossary of Terms

GLOSSARY

List Of Acronyms And Glossary

List of Acronyms
Legislative and Technical Abbreviations
*Federal Legislation*
CCME - WQG	Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment - Water Quality Guidelines
CEPA	Canadian Environmental Protection Act
CEAA	Canadian Environmental Assessment Act
CSA	Canadian Shipping Act
MMLER	Metal Mining Liquid Effluent Regulations
NAAQS	National Ambient Air Quality Standards
NAPS	National Air Pollution Surveillance Program
NWPA	Navigable Waters Protection Act
*Provincial Legislation*
HRA	Historic Resources Act
NDEA	NF Department of Environment Act
OHSA	Occupational Health and Safety Act
*Technical*
ASTM	American Society of Testing and Materials
CO	Carbon monoxide
HQ	Hazard Quotient
ISC3	U.S. EPA's Industrial Source Complex air dispersion model
LOEL	Lowest Observed Effects Level
NO_x	Oxides of nitrogen
OHS	Occupational Health and Safety
PM	Particulate Matter
SO_x	Oxides of sulphur

Glossary - Voisey's Bay Mine/Mill EIS
Acid Rock Drainage	The generation of sulphuric acid when sulphide compounds in rock become exposed to oxygen and water.
Acute Toxicity	Mortality that is produced in test animals by contaminated water or sediment within a short period of exposure, usually 24 to 96 h.
Adit	An opening made horizontally into the side of a hill from which a mineral deposit will be explored and developed. An adit is open to the atmosphere at one end and is a tunnel.
Additive Effects	Effects that can be added to estimate the total net effect of several different activities. Additive effects occur at the same time in the same place.
Aggregate	Sand and rocks that are mixed with cement and water to make concrete.
Alkalinity	The amount of alkaline or base in a solution; often expressed in terms of pH.
Ambient	Background conditions independent of specific activities; the qualities of the environment, especially with respect to physical factors such as temperature.
Amphipods	Small shrimp-like crustaceans (e.g., sand fleas). Many live or burrow in sediment, feed on algae and detritus, and are food for larger marine animals. Amphipods are commonly used in laboratory bioassays to test the toxicity of sediments.
Anadromous	A salmonid fish that move up rivers from the sea to spawn.
ANFO	Acronym for ammonium nitrate and fuel oil, a mixture used as a blasting agent in mines.
Anorthosite	A coarse-grained plutonic igneous rock consisting almost entirely of plagioclase feldspar.
Anthropogenic	Caused by human activity.
Aquifer	A permeable material through which groundwater moves.
Archipelago	A series of islands in the sea.
Average Income	Average income refers to the weighted mean total income of a group of income units (individuals, families or households) and is calculated from unrounded data by dividing the aggregate income of the group (e.g., males, 45-54 years of age, female lone-parent families, one-person households) by the number of units in that group.
Avifauna	Birds.
Backfill	Unclassified soil, till, overburden or rock used to fill in an opening or depression.
Barrens	A stretch of unusually level land that is sparsely vegetated or barren [unable to support growth; unproductive land]
Bathymetry	Measurement of the elevations of the sea bed, with respect to the top of the water.
Bedload	The material in movement along a stream bottom.
Bedrock	The more or less solid, undisturbed rock in place either at the ground surface or beneath surface deposits of gravel, sand or soil.
Bench	A ledge, which in open pit mines and quarries forms a single level of mining, from which ore or waste is extracted.
Bench Height	The vertical height of a bench.
Benthic	Referring to organisms living in or on the sediments of aquatic/marine habitats.
Bioaccumulation	The accumulation of contaminants in increasing concentrations in organisms higher up the food chain.
Bioavailable	The ease with which a material (i.e., a chemical) in the surrounding environment can be taken up by organisms. The environment may include water, sediment, suspended particles, and food items.
Biodiversity	The variability among living organisms from all sources, including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are apart; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems.
Biomass	The mass of living matter present in a specific location or species.
Bioturbation	The movement and relocation of bottom sediments by the activities of bottom-dwelling organisms.
Bivalve	A type of Mollusca with a hinged shell.
Bollard	A fixture on a wharf used to fasten a line from a ship.
Borehole	A hole drilled in rock, generally to be used for blasting purposes.
Borrow	Earth material (sand, gravel) taken from one location (such as a borrow pit) to be used for fill at another location (e.g., embankment material obtained from a pit when there is insufficient excavated material nearby to form the embankment).
Boulder	Rounded or subrounded particles greater than 256 mm in size.
Bulkhead	A barricade or wall constructed across a horizontal or over a vertical mine opening.
Carnivore	A flesh-eating mammal.
Catchment	A drainage basin.
Census Metropolitan Area (CMA)	The general concept of a census metropolitan area (CMA) is one of a very large urban area, together with adjacent urban and rural areas which have a high degree of economic and social integration with that urban area. A CMA is delineated around an urban area (called the urbanized core and having a population of at least 100,000, based on the previous census). Once an area becomes a CMA, it is retained in the program even if its population subsequently declines. Smaller urban areas, centred on urbanized cores of a population of at least 10,000 are included in the census aggiomeration (CA) program.
Chironomids	True files, belonging to the midge family, Chironomidae.
Chiton	A member of the Mollusca phylum, related to snails, slugs and limpets. Chitons are invertebrates that resemble limpets.
Chronic Effects	Adverse effects on growth or reproduction of an organism due to long term exposure to sublethal contaminant concentrations.
Chronic Test	A bioassay (toxicity test) that examines sublethal (e.g., larval development) as well as lethal effects.
Chronic Toxicity	Toxicity marked by a long duration, that produces an adverse effect on organisms. The end result of chronic toxicity can be death although the usual effects are sublethal (e.g., inhibiting reproduction or growth). These effects are reflected by changes in the productivity and population structure of the community.
Chute	An opening, usually constructed of timber and equipped with a gate, through which ore is drawn from a stope into mine cars.
Circumpolar	Inhabiting the land and fast ice around the North (and South) Pole; surrounding or located at or near either of the Earth's poles.
Cladocera	A group of small crustaceans called water fleas, which includes Daphnia.
Clay	Fine textured inorganic material less than 0.004 mm diameter.
Cobalt	A brittle hard silvery-white element that is a ferromagnetic metal: occurs principally in cobaltite and smaltite and is widely used in alloys.
Cobble	Bed or bank material between 64 and 256 mm diameter.
Collar	The top opening or entrance of a vertical or near vertical shaft which can be natural bedrock or formed from concrete.
Concentrate	A processed material that contains higher concentrations of an element than were in the original ore.
Concentration	A measure of how much of a substance is in air, water or living tissue.
Concentrator	An industrial plant that removes rock from an ore, leaving a concentrate of the valuable minerals or metals. Further processing is required to recover the pure metal.
Consumers	The totality of animal organisms in a habitat, so-called because they feed on the organic matter already formed (e.g., the primary consumers on plant biomass, the secondary consumers on animal matter).
Contaminant	A substance that is not naturally present in the environment or is present in unnatural concentrations or amounts which can, in sufficient concentrations, adversely alter the environment.
Contaminated Sediment	A sediment that contains measurable levels of contaminants.
Continental Climate	A climate which is not moderated by proximity to a large water body, characterized by hot summers and cold winters.
Contingency Plan	A program intended to address malfunctions, accidents or unplanned events that may occur in connection with the Undertaking.
Copper	A malleable ductile reddish metallic element occurring as the free metal, copper glance, and copper pyrites that is used as an electrical and thermal conductor and in such alloys as brass and bronze.
Crustacean	One of a class (Crustacea) of arthropods that breathe through gills or branchiae and have a body commonly covered by a hard shell or crust (e.g., barnacles, crabs, shrimp and lobsters).
Cumulative Environmental Effects	Cumulative effects occur when impacts on the natural and social environments take place so frequently in time or so densely in space that the effects of the individual events cannot be assimilated; or when the impacts of one activity combine with those of another in a synergistic manner. The additive effects of an Undertaking in combination with other undertakings or activities that have been or will be carried out.
Decant Water	Water that exceeds the amount that can be contained in a pond or basin: this excess water is usually pumped to another location and treated if required, before being discharged into the environment
Decibel (dB)	The basic unit for measuring the magnitude of sound pressure levels. The entire range of audible sound pressure for humans can be compressed into a practical scale of sound pressure levels from 0 to 140 dB. One decibel is the minimum difference in loudness that is usually perceptible. The following are typical of some common events: inside a home, 50 dB; car horn at 6 m, 110 dB; soft whisper at 5 m, 30 dB (Strauss 1995).
Decline	A tunnel developed from surface at a shallow angle which interconnects underground levels at different elevations.
Decommissioning	The closing of a mine.
Delta	An area at the mouth of a river where sediments accumulate in a broad plain that is usually exposed during low tide.
Deposit	Any collection of earth material accumulated through the activities of water, wind, ice, or other agents.
Deposition	The sinking of material out of the water column or air and onto the bottom of the water body or land.
Detritivore	An organism that eats detritus.
Detritus	Unconsolidated material composed of both inorganic and dead and decaying organic material.
Development	Work carried out to access a mineral deposit and make ore extraction possible.
Diffusion Barrier	A layer of material such as sand or organic matter placed on top of submerged tailings to reduce the movement of metals from the tailings to the water level.
Diorite	A dark coarse-grained igneous plutonic rock consisting of plagioclase feldspar and ferromagnesian minerals such as hornblende.
Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC)	A measure of the amount of organic matter dissolved in a liquid; in terms of sediments, DOC typically refers to the organic carbon content of the interstitial water.
Dissolved Oxygen	The concentration of oxygen dissolved in the water, expressed in mg/L or as percent saturation, where saturation is the maximum amount of oxygen that can be dissolved in water at a given altitude and temperature, usually 10 mg/L.
Dolphin	A small wharf structure that is not attached to the loading wharf but assists vessels in lining up with the loading wharf.
Drift	A horizontal passage in a mine that follows a mineral vein.
Drill-Indicated Reserves	The size and quality of a potential orebody as suggested by widely spaced drillholes; more work is required before reserves can be classified as proven.
Dyke	A long and relatively thin body of igneous rock that, while in the molten state, intruded into cracks in older sedimentary rocks.
Eastern Deeps	The underground orebody located east of the Ovoid.
Echinoderms	Includes organisms from the phylum Echinodermata (e.g., sea urchins, sand dollars, sea cucumbers, starfish). These marine organisms are characterized by having radial symmetry, an exoskeleton with external spines and a water-vascular system.
Ecological Land Classification	A system used to classify land according to ecological characteristics.
Ecology	The study of the interactions between organisms and their environment.
Ecosystem	A community of interacting organisms considered together with the chemical and physical factors that make up their environment.
Ecosystem Approach	A holistic, interdisciplinary method of studying a system that seeks to integrate biophysical and socioeconomic factors with input from a variety of sources.
Ecosystem Integrity	The overall health of an ecosystem.
Electric Room	The place where electrical power is distributed throughout the mine site.
Emission/Effluent Rate	The rate at which a source releases contaminants into air/water.
Endangered	Any species, subspecies or geographically separate population The State of Canada's Environment 1997,< http://ww1.sid.ncr.doe.ca > of wildlife or plants that were formerly native to Canada, but which no longer exists anywhere (extinct) or no longer existing in Canada but occurring elsewhere (extirpated).
Engineered Landfill	A place to bury garbage and waste which has been designed to incorporate liners and other features to prevent the release of contaminants into the surrounding soil and groundwater.
Entrainment	The occasions when a large amount of water having particular properties (e.g. temperature and salinity) is trapped or carried within an even larger mass of water that has different properties.
Environmental Compliance Monitoring	Activities that are undertaken in order to ensure compliance with regulations, acts, permits and guidelines, the Environmental Management Plan, environmental protection plans, internal standards, or environmental policies. Monitoring also includes activities undertaken to ensure compliance with the terms or conditions of commitments or project agreements, such as the Impact and Benefit Agreements. Monitoring are activities undertaken by the proponent in order to demonstrate that the project operates within specific limits of environmental performance.
Environmental Effects Monitoring	The primary tool for achieving the goals of the Follow-up Program. An Environmental Effects Monitoring program includes the regular measurement of environmental variables in order to detect changes that are directly or indirectly attributable to the Project.
Environmental Protection Plan	A plan that outlines project-specific environmental protection measures.
Erosion	The breaking down and subsequent removal of either rock or surface material by wind, rain, wave action, freezing and thawing, and other processes.
Esker	A long winding ridge of sand and gravel, unrelated to the surrounding landscape. These ridges are formed as streambeds in or under glaciers, and are left as the glacier retreats.
Euphotic Zone	A zone near the water surface into which sufficient light penetrates for photosynthesis to take place.
Eutrophic	Nutrient-rich waters with high primary productivity.
Exposure	The reaction between a chemical or physical agent and a living organism.
Fast Ice	Stationary and thick sea ice that is present in the deep winter as coastal surface waters freeze with reduced winter air and water temperatures. It attaches to the shoreline.
Fault	A break in the Earth's crust caused by tectonic forces that have moved the rock on one side with respect to the other.
Fecundity	Potential ability of an organism to produce eggs or young.
Ferrous	Containing iron.
Filter Feeder	An aquatic animal that feeds on particles or small organisms strained out of the water. Includes most of the stationary feeders, such as clams, oysters, barnacles and sponges.
Fines	The fine-grained particles in stream banks and substrate.
First, Second and Third Order Streams	A first order stream is the main freshwater channel directly connected to salt water. A second order stream is the main channel of a tributary (from the confluence with the main channel). A third order stream is a branch of the main channel of a tributary.
Flat	Tidal flats are formed in sediments which may be mudflats (accretional) or sand and gravel flats (erosional). Slopes are usually <5°.
Flotation	A common process in the concentration of minerals. When the various mineral particles have been ground sufficiently to allow separation from one to another and the gangue material, they are pumped in suspension to flotation cells. With the addition of certain chemicals and the passage of air through the suspension, the different mineral particles can be made to attach themselves selectively to the air bubbles to form a froth which is then skimmed from the remaining bulk of the suspension.
Flow	(a) The movement of a stream of water and/or other mobile substances from place to place. (b) The volume of water passing a given point per unit of time.
Follow-up Program	An on-going process to verify the accuracy if the environmental assessment of the undertaking and determine the effectiveness of migration measures. If either of these two steps identify unforeseen adverse impacts, then the existing mitigation measures should be adjusted or, if necessary, new mitigation or compensation measures should be developed.
Freeboard	The space or distance between the waterline and the top of an impoundment.
Freshet	A rapid temporary rise in stream discharge and level caused by heavy rains or rapid melting of snow and ice.
Fry	The young of fish.
Gabbro	A coarse-grained, dark, igneous rock.
Gangue	The worthless minerals in an ore deposit.
Geology	The study of the rocks that compose the Earth.
Geomorphology	The surficial features of the earth, their classification, description, origin, and relation of landforms to the underlying geologic structure.
Generator	An engine that uses oil, gasoline or diesel to produce electrical power.
Glacial Drift	Sedimentary material, consisting of clay and boulders, that has been transported by glaciers.
Glacial Landform	Landscape features that were originally formed by glacial action (i.e., eskers, kames, drumlins).
Glaciofluvial Deposits	Unconsolidated rock material deposited by meltwater streams flowing from glaciers.
Gneiss	Any coarse-grained metamorphic rock that is banded or foliated; represents the last stage in the metamorphism of rocks before melting.
Gossan	The rust-coloured capping or staining of a mineral deposit, generally formed by the oxidation or alteration of iron sulphides.
Gradient	The general slope of the land or the rate at which a physical or chemical measurement changes with distance.
Granite	A coarse-grained (intrusive) igneous rock consisting of quartz, feldspar and mica.
Gravel	A mixture of pebbles and cobbles which also may include some interstitial sand; article size between 2 and 64 mm diameter.
Groundwater	Underground water that has come mainly from the seepage of surface water and is held in the soil and in rocks.
Grout	A chemical or concrete mix which is used to anchor rebar or metal pins within a borehole.
Habitat	The place where a type of animal or plant lives and its surroundings, both living and nonliving; includes the availability of food and shelter.
Hardness	Water hardness is measured by the total amount of dissolved calcium salts, magnesium salts, iron, and aluminum. "Soft" water contains less than 17.1 mg/L of these compounds and elements while "very hard" water contains over 180 mg/L (Strauss 1995).
Haul Road	A road built to carry haulage trucks and other mobile equipment in and out of a open pit mine or quarry.
Hazardous Substance	A substance that poses a potential threat to the environment and/or human health and safety if improperly used, handled, stored, transported or disposed.
Headframe	A building that contains the machinery to move rock out of the mine and to send workers and supplies into and out of the mine.
Herbivore	An animal that feeds on plants.
Highwall	The rock face remaining exposed after mining of an open pit mine or quarry.
Holistic	An interrelated system perspective.
Host Rock	The rock surrounding an ore deposit.
Hydrogeology	The study of the movement and characteristics of water contained within and between rocks under the Earth's surface.
Igneous	A rock formed by the solidification of magma.
Impact and Benefit Agreements	Contractual agreements under negotiation between the Proponent and Aboriginal groups. The intent of these agreements is to make it possible to develop the Project in a way that respects Aboriginal rights and culture, provides socioeconomic benefits to nearby Aboriginal communities and addresses negative environmental, economic, and social impacts.
Impoundment	The collection of water by a reservoir or dam.
Inclined Shaft	A shaft developed at a shallow angle connecting levels to each other or and/or with the surface.
Infaunal	Living within sediment.
Interstitial Water	The water within a wet sediment that surrounds the sediment particles. The amount of interstitial water in sediment is calculated and expressed as the percentage ratio of the weight of water in the sediment to the weight of the wet sediment. Also referred to as .pore water
Intrusion	An igneous rock formed from the movement of magma from within the earth's crust into spaces in the overlying strata.
Inversion	An abnormal condition in which the layer of air next to the Earth's surface is cooler than an overlaying layer.
Invertebrates	Collective term for all animals without a backbone or spinal column, such as insects, worms, clams and crustaceans.
Kame	A mound, knob or short irregular ridge composed of stratified sand and gravel. Formed from deposits of sand and gravel against the side of the glacier.
Lacustrine	Pertaining to, or living in, lakes or ponds.
Land Region	A natural region with specific biological and physical characteristics such as land forms, climate and vegetation.
Landscape Ecology	The interactions and relationships among people, climate, land, water, ice, vegetation and animals.
Laydown Area	The place where equipment, supplies, and material are put before building begins.
LC₅₀	The median lethal concentration; the concentration of material in water to which test organisms are exposed that is estimated to be lethal to 50% of the test organisms after 96 hours.
Level	Horizontal tunnel developed at any desired elevation within underground workings. Depending upon orientation and location within the underground workings; it is also called a drift or crosscut.
Land District	A natural area characterized by a distinctive pattern of relief, geology, geomorphology and associated regional vegetation.
Land Region	A natural region with specific biological and physical characteristics such as land forms, climate and vegetation.
Land Zone	A natural region with specific biological and physical characteristics such as land forms, climate and vegetation. An ecozone may contain several smaller land regions.
Lithic	Anything related to stone.
Lithology	The physical characteristics of a rock, including colour, composition and texture.
Littoral	The shallow waters near the shore. Usually it is the region of a lake from the highest water level to the depth at which photosynthesis ceases.
Lowest Observed Effect Concentration (LOEC)	The lowest concentration of a material used in a toxicity test that has a statistically significant adverse effect on the exposed population of test organisms as compared with the control or reference material.
Macroinvertebrate	The larvae of animals, such as insects and snails, that occur underwater and form the basis of the freshwater food chain.
Macrophyte	A macroscopic photosynthetic organism growing submerged, floating, or emergent in the water.
Magazine	A building that stores explosives.
Mean	The sum of the values of the variable divided by the number of values.
Meander	A winding course, curves or bends as in a river.
Measurement Units	The most commonly used units are: for length metres (m) kilometres (km) = 1,000 metres millimetre (mm) = a thousandth of a metre micrometre (micron, um) = a millionth of a metre. The finest beach sand is about 90 microns. for area hectare (ha), an area that is 100 m wide by 100 m long square kilometre (km²), an area that is 1,000 m wide by 1,000 m long There are 100 ha in a km² for volume cubic metre (m³) = 1,000 L litre (L) tonne (t) = 1,000 kg for weight or mass kilograms (kg = 1,000 g) grams (g) milligrams (mg = 0.001 g, a thousandth of a gram) microgram (ug = 0.000001 = 0.001 mg, a millionth of a gram) Below are masses of some common items (Strauss 1995): dime, 2.5 g rabbit, about 3.6 kg snowflake, about 1 ug flea, about 5 mg for concentrations It is frequently necessary to measure how much of a substance (for example, carbon dioxide) is in an amount of air (for example, a cubic metre). Concentrations are expressed as ratios of the amount of substance in air, water or living tissue. This could also be written as "200 ug of CO₂ in 1 m³ of air" It is always written as 200 ug/m³, for conciseness. In the following examples, "ug" is used, but it could also be "mg" or "g". for gases in air u g/m³ (This is about 1 unit of gas per trillion (a million millions) units of air). Other concentrations include mg/m³ or g/m³. for substances in water u g/L (This is about 1 unit of a substance per billion (a thousand millions) units of water. Other concentrations include mg/L or g/L. One part per trillion is about one grain of salt in an Olympic-sized swimming pool (Strauss 1995) for substances in sediment or in living matter u g/kg (This is about 1 unit of a substance per billion (a thousand millions) units of living tissue). Other concentrations include mg/kg or g/kg.
Median Income	The median income of a specified group of income units is that amount which divides their income size distribution into two halves, i.e., the incomes of the first half of the income units are below the median, while those of the second half are above the median. In case of individuals, median income is calculated only for individuals with income (positive or negative). In all other cases, both with and without income units are included in the calculation. This concept and procedure applies to total income, employment income, wages and salaries and any other component of income.
Method Detection Limit (MDL)	The smallest concentration of an analyte in a given matrix determined by a given method that has a 99% confidence that this value is not zero.
Microclimate	The weather variations in a very local area; the atmospheric conditions affecting an individual or small group of organisms, especially when they differ from the climate of the rest of the community.
Microhabitat	The smallest part of the environment that supports a distinct flora and fauna, such as a fallen log in a forest.
Mill	A processing plant that produces a concentrate of the valuable minerals or metals contained in an ore.
Mineral	An inorganic, homogeneous substance that occurs naturally in the earth. It has a definite chemical makeup and usually appears in crystal or grain form. It may or may not have economic value.
Mitigation	The elimination, reduction or control of the adverse environmental effects of the Undertaking, including restitution through replacement, restoration, rehabilitation, compensation or any other means [MOU].
Mixing Height	The effective depth of the atmosphere, measured from ground level, through which the dispersion of contaminants can take place.
Morphometry	Measurement of the shape or form of a feature.
Nickel	A malleable ductile silvery-white metallic element that is strong and corrosion-resistant, occurring principally in pentlandite and niccolite, and used in alloys.
Moraine	An accumulation of material (typically sand, gravel or rock) that has been transported by ice (commonly glaciers).
Moult	To lose a layer of body covering (e.g., fur, feathers) as a new covering grows in.
Mysid	A member of the shrimp family, often referred to as opossum shrimps.
Nain Plutonic Suite	The predominant rock type in the Voisey's Bay area consisting of Voisey's Bay granite, Makhavinekh Lake granite, anorthosite, leuco-norite, leuco-gabbro, ferro-diorite and pyroxenite.
No Observed Effect Concentration (NOEC)	The highest concentration of a material used in a toxicity test that has no statistically significant adverse effect on the exposed population of test organisms as compared with the control.
Not Detectable	Below the limit of detection of specified method of analysis.
Not in the Labour Force	Refers to those persons who, in the week prior to enumeration, were unwilling or unable to offer or supply their labour services under conditions existing in the labour market. It includes persons who looked for work during the last four weeks but who were not available to start work in the reference week, as well as persons who did not work, did not have a new job to start in four weeks or less, were not on temporary lay-off or did not look for work in the four weeks prior to enumeration. Data are available for persons 15 years of age and over, excluding institutional residents.
Oligotrophic	Nutrient-deficient waters with low primary productivity.
Open Pit Mine	A mine working or excavation open to the surface, used to recover mineral reserves near surface.
Ore	Mineralized rock which can be mined and processed at a profit.
Ore Reserves	The calculated tonnage and grade of mineralization which can be extracted profitably. Ore reserves are classified according to the level of confidence that can be placed in the data. Proven ore reserves, for example, are reserves that have been sampled extensively by closely-spaced diamond drill holes and developed by underground workings in sufficient detail to render an accurate estimation of grade and tonnage. Probable and possible ore reserves represent mineralization that cannot be estimated in terms of tonnage and grade with a high degree of accuracy because it has not been sampled sufficiently.
Orebody	A natural concentration of valuable material that can be extracted and sold.
Organic	A substance derived from animal or plant matter.
Osmoregulation	Physiological activity within an organism that serves to maintain the internal salt and fluid balance within a narrow acceptable range.
Overall Pit Wall Slope Angle	The slant of the wall of the pit.
Overburden	Soil, till or rock that is located over areas proposed for development as open pit mines or quarries. Overburden must be removed prior to mining.
Ovoid	The main orebody at Voisey's Bay.
Participation Rate	Refers to the total labour force (in reference week) expressed as a percentage of the population 15 years of age and over, excluding institutional residents. The participation rate of a particular group (age, sex, marital status, geographic area, etc.) is the labour force in that group expressed as a percentage of the population for that group.
Pathway	A conduit.
Peat	Soil material with a high organic content resulting from an accumulation of decaying vegetative matter.
Pebbles	A rounded or subrounded rock fragment, generally rounded by abrasion, larger than a granule and smaller than a cobble; it has a diameter in the range of 4 to 64 mm, or a size between that of a pea and tennis ball.
Pelagic	Used to describe those animals or plants living in the mass of the water column in a lake, ocean or sea (as opposed to those living on or near the bottom).
Permeability	The ability of a rock or earth to transmit water.
pH	A measure of the acidity or baseness of a liquid. The measurement range is from 0, for the most acidic, to 14, for the most base. Lemon juice is 2.4, blood is 7, and lye is about 13 on the scale (Strauss 1995).
Photosynthesis	The synthesis of organic compounds from carbon dioxide and water (with the release of oxygen) using light energy absorbed by chlorophyll in plants (both marine and terrestrial).
Phreatic	Relating to groundwater occurring below the water table.
Phytoplankton	Small floating plant life in aquatic ecosystems, predominantly microscopic.
Pinniped	A marine mammal of the Order Pinnipedia, which comprises seals, sea lions and walruses.
Pneumatic	A device operated by compressed air or by a vacuum.
Polychaete	Any aquatic annelid worm of the Class Polychaeta, having numerous bristles on the fleshy lobes of each body segment.
Polynya	A stretch of open water surrounded by ice, especially near the mouths of large rivers, in Arctic seas.
Pore water	See Interstitial Water.
Portal	The opening or entrance into an adit, inclined shaft or ramp.
Post-decommissioning	The time after which an operation has closed and equipment and facilities have been removed from the site.
Precambrian	The oldest geologic period which lasted approximately 3 billion years and ended approximately 540 million years ago.
Prestripping	The removal of uneconomic materials to facilitate mining of orebodies.
Primary Production	The amount of organic matter produced by photosynthesis within a defined ecosystem.
Production Shaft	A vertical tunnel that is used to take rock out of an underground mine.
Productivity	In general, the increase of biomass concentration per unit of time.
Pyrite	A common yellow mineral with a brilliant metallic lustre; the most widespread and abundant of all the sulphide minerals.
Quality Assurance (QA)	The total integrated program for assuring the reliability of monitoring and measurement data. A system for integrating the quality planning, quality assessment, and quality improvement efforts to meet user requirements.
Quality Control (QC)	The routine application of procedures for obtaining prescribed standards of performance in the monitoring and measurement process. Included are standardization, calibration, replicates, and control and check samples suitable for statistical estimates of confidence of the data.
Quarry	An open or surface working usually developed for the extraction of building stones, aggregate, limestone and other industrial minerals.
Raise	A vertical or nearly vertical opening, developed upward from underground which connects levels at different elevations and may extend through to surface.
Rafting	A condition where thin ice floes or sheets ride over each other early in the season and freeze together to cause a steep change in thickness over a localized area.
Reclaim Water Barge	A small boat used to take water from a sedimentation pond or tailings pond and reuse the water elsewhere in the mine operations.
Reclamation	The restoration of a site after mining or exploration activity is complete. In addition to removing buildings and other infrastructure, reclamation often involves contouring the land, tree-planting, and converting the open pit into a pond.
Redox Conditions	A measure of electron activity of an environment (i.e., sediments); high redox conditions mean oxygen-rich environments, low redox conditions mean oxygen-poor environments.
Reference Sediment	A field-collected or a laboratory-generated sample of sediment relatively free of contaminants (i.e., "clean" sediment) representing the test (contaminated) sediment in all possible characteristics. Test organisms should be able to survive in reference sediment with little if any adverse effects. Used in bioassays to determine the response of the test organism to similar sediment in the relative absence of the contaminant(s) of concern.
Reserves	The part of the reserve base which could be economically extracted or produced.
Residual Environmental Effects	Effects that persist after mitigation measures have been applied.
Riffle	Shallow areas in a stream or river section characterized by increased habitat heterogeneity, sediment size, stream velocity, and sometimes oxygen content.
Riparian	Inhabiting or situated on the bank of a river.
Rockbolt	A bolt of varying length, generally manufactured of steel, with an expansion shell or anchor nut which can be affixed within a borehole located in rock.
Runoff	The water that flows along the surface into water bodies, rather than being absorbed by soil.
Rutting	A recurrent period of sexual excitement and reproductive activity in certain male ruminants, such as the caribou, that corresponds to the period of oestrus in females.
Sand	Particles with size between 0.0626 to 2 mm diameter.
Schist	A foliated metamorphic rock, the grains of which have a roughly parallel arrangement; generally developed by shearing.
Scoping	A process used to determine the scope of issues to be addressed.
Scoping Sessions	Public meetings where all relevant issues and concerns related to a proposed project or activity are identified.
Sediment	Material, such as sand or mud, suspended in or settling to the bottom of a liquid. Sediment input to a body of water comes from natural sources, such as erosion of soils and weathering of rock, or as the result of anthropogenic activities, such as forest or agricultural practices, or construction activities. Some contaminants tend to collect on and adhere to sediment particles.
Sedimentation	Sinking to the bottom of suspended matter carried in water.
Sedimentation Pond	A pond where water from mine and mill operations is put so that impurities (dirt and grit) can sink to the bottom of the pond.
Sessile	An organism that moves very little (e.g., mussels).
Shaft	A vertical tunnel into an underground mine.
Shrinkage	A method of stoping which uses part of the broken ore.
Shrinkage Stoping	A stoping method which uses part of the broken ore as a working platform and as a support for the walls of the stope.
Sill	An intrusive sheet of igneous rock of uniform thickness, generally extending over considerable lateral extent, that has been forced between the bedding planes of existing rock.
Silt	Muddy deposits of fine sediment usually found on the bottom of lakes.
Smelter	An industrial plant that extracts pure metal from ore.
Spawn	To produce or deposit eggs.
Speciation	The set of all concentration values for the various chemical compounds present in a system.
Staging	The tendency for migrating birds (particularly waterfowl) to congregate in areas where food is abundant in order to replenish energy lost during migration.
Standard Deviation	A measure of the variation of a set of data in terms of amounts by which the values deviate from their mean.
Steady-State	The condition of a system when some or all of the quantities describing it do not change over time.
Stope	An excavation in a mine from which ore is being or has been extracted. The location underground where the actual mining of ore takes place. A stope generally extends between levels.
Strike	The direction, or bearing, from true north of a vein or rock formation measured on a horizontal surface.
Subarctic	Areas with discontinuous permafrost, including taiga or boreal zones.
Sublethal	Concentration levels below that which will kill fish, but may affect other life stages.
Substation	A small pumping station that repumps water that is moving over a large distance.
Substrate	The base on which an organism lives.
Succession	The natural process of community change that culminates in the development of the climax community/vegetation of the area.
Surface Runoff	That part of the runoff that travels over the ground surface to the nearest stream without passing beneath the surface.
Surge Pond	A pond for temporary storage of overflow water.
Sustainable Development	Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Synergistic	Acting together.
Synergistic Effects	Effects that occur from different activities but the effects combine to cause a completely new effect or an effect that is larger (or smelter) then if the bold effect were added (see additive effects). Synergistic effects do not always occur when more than one a activity happens.
Tailings	Very fine waste material (like flour) and water (slurry) rejected from a mill or process plant after most of the valuable minerals have been extracted.
Tailings Pond	A body of water used to confine tailings so that most impurities can sink to the bottom before the water is expelled to the environment or further treated (cleaned) by chemical or mechanical means.
Telemetry	Aerial and ground tracking.
Thermocline	Temperature gradient or layer of water where temperature changes rapidly with depth.
Thermoregulate	The ability of a mammal to regulate its body temperature.
Thinner	A fluid added to a mixture that makes the mixture wetter.
Thiosalt	Partially-oxidized sulphur oxyanions formed during the milling of sulphide ores.
Threshold Concentrations	The concentration of a chemical or other material below which no adverse effect occurs or is expected to occur.
Till	Non-sorted, non-stratified earth or rock materials carried and deposited by glaciers.
Top Dressing	A nutrient-rich layer of soil placed on an area to be reclaimed to enhance vegetation growth.
Topography	The land forms or surface configuration of a region.
Total Labour Force	Refers to persons who were either employed or unemployed during the week prior to enumeration (June 4, 1991). Data are available for persons 15 years of age and over, excluding institutional residents.
Total Organic Carbon (TOC)	A measure of the total amount of organic matter present in a sample. The sum of all carbon of organic origin in a sediment sample. The amount of organic carbon in sediment; usually expressed in % dry weight of sediment.
Total Suspended Particulate	The total quantity of suspended matter in a solution.
Total Suspended Solids (TSS)	The organic and inorganic material left on a standard glass fibre filter (0.45 micrometres) after a water sample is filtered through it.
Toxicity	The inherent potential or capacity of a material to cause adverse effects (lethal or sublethal) in a living organism. Toxic effects are a result of concentration and exposure time, and are modified by variables such as temperature, chemical form and availability.
Toxicity Test	The means by which the toxicity of a chemical or other test material is determined. A toxicity test is used to measure the degree of response produced by exposure to a specific level of stimulus (or concentration of chemical).
Treatment Facility/Plant	A place where water is partially cleaned before it is sent into the environment.
Troctolite	A minerallogically-simple rock comprising approximately equal portions of plagioclase and olivine.
Trophic Levels	Functional classification of organisms in an ecosystem according to feeding relationships.
Turbidity	A measure of the extent to which light passing through water is reduced due to suspended materials.
Unemployed	Refers to persons who, during the week prior to enumeration (June 4, 1991). a) were without work, actively looked for work in the past four weeks and were available for work; or b) were on lay-off and expected to return to their job and were available for work; or c) had definite arrangements to start a new job in four weeks or less and were available for work. Data are available for persons 15 years of age and over, excluding institutional residents.
Unemployed Rate	Refers to the unemployed labour force expressed as a percentage of the total labour force (in reference week). The unemployment rate for a particular group (age, sex, marital status, geographic area, etc.) is the number of unemployed in that group expressed as a percentage of the labour force for that group. Data are available for persons 15 years of age and over, excluding institutional residents.
Units	See Measurement Units.
Upwelling	The process which water rises from a lower to a higher depth, usually as a result of divergence and offshore currents. It influences climate by bringing colder water to the surface. The upwelled water, besides being cooler, is richer in (plant) nutrients.
Valued Environmental Components	Environmental attributes or components identified as a result of a public involvement program or social scoping exercise. This selection permits the environmental assessment to be focused on those components that are most highly valued by the public and regulators.
Vulnerable	A species of special concern because of characteristics that make it particularly sensitive to human activities or natural events.
Waste Rock	Barren rock or rock too low in mineral content to be mined or processed economically.
Water Column	The mass of water that lies between the surface and seabed or lakebed. The depth of the water column can range from a few metres for lake to thousand of kilometres, for oceans.
Watershed	Drainage basin.
Wetland	Marsh area periodically inundated and containing a unique assemblage of salt-tolerant plants.
Western Extension	The orebody that is located west of the Ovoid.
Whelping	To give birth to young (this term is used with reference to seals).
Winze	A vertical or near-vertical shaft developed within the underground workings which connect levels at various elevations.
Zooplankton	Small floating or weakly-swimming invertebrate animals in freshwater and marine ecosystems.