Mining

Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth from an orebody, lode, vein, seam, reef or placer deposits which forms the mineralized package of economic interest to the miner.

Ores recovered by mining include metals, coal, oil shale, gemstones, limestone, dimension stone, rock salt, potash, gravel, and clay. Mining is required to obtain any material that cannot be grown through agricultural processes, or created artificially in a laboratory or factory. Mining in a wider sense includes extraction of any non-renewable resource such as petroleum, natural gas, or even water.

Mining of stones and metal has been a human activity since pre-historic times. Modern mining processes involve prospecting for ore bodies, analysis of the profit potential of a proposed mine, extraction of the desired materials, and final reclamation of the land after the mine is closed.

Mining operations usually create a negative environmental impact, both during the mining activity and after the mine has closed. Hence, most of the world's nations have passed regulations to decrease the impact. Worker safety has long been a concern as well, and modern practices have significantly improved safety in mines.

Precious metal

A precious metal is a rare, naturally occurring metallic chemical element of high economic value. Chemically, the precious metals tend to be less reactive than most elements (see noble metal). They are usually ductile and have a high lustre. Historically, precious metals were important as currency but are now regarded mainly as investment and industrial commodities. Gold, silver, platinum, and palladium each have an ISO 4217 currency code.

The best-known precious metals are the coinage metals, gold and silver. Although both have industrial uses, they are better known for their uses in art, jewellery, and coinage. Other precious metals include the platinum group metals: ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, osmium, iridium, and platinum, of which platinum is the most widely traded. The demand for precious metals is driven not only by their practical use but also by their role as investments and a store of value. Historically, precious metals have commanded much higher prices than common industrial metals.

Precious metal (disambiguation)

A precious metal is a naturally occurring metal of high economic value. Precious metal may also refer to:

Decibel (magazine)

Decibel is a monthly heavy metal magazine published by the Philadelphia-based Red Flag Media since October 2004. Its sections include Upfront, Features, Reviews, Guest Columns and the Decibel Hall of Fame. The magazine's tag-line is currently "Extremely Extreme" (previously "The New Noise"); the editor-in-chief is Albert Mudrian.

Features

Hall of Fame

Each issue of Decibel features an article dubbed the Hall of Fame which pays tribute to a significant album in the history of heavy metal music. All contributing band members to the specific album must be alive at the time of interviewing.

In 2009, 25 of the Hall of Fame entries were used as the basis for the book Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces released through Da Capo Press. The book also includes previously unreleased interview questions that were left out of the magazine articles, and a full piece on Darkthrone's Transilvanian Hunger that was never published in a magazine due to its length.