To actively explore an area for signs of valuable minerals, metals, or hydrocarbons. The process involves surface mapping, sampling outcrops, panning stream sediments, and running geophysical surveys. The goal of prospecting is to identify anomalies that warrant expensive drilling or excavation to prove up an economic ore body.
Heard on the job
We spent three weeks prospecting the ridges north of the old workings.
Do not mix it up with
- Costean: Prospecting is the general search for minerals, while costeaning is the specific act of digging a trench to expose the bedrock.