**NOTES**

**CATEGORY LABELS**

**Region** Region assigned based upon site location. Regions denoted as
follows:

> **Africa** -- Countries on the African continent.
>
> **Asia** -- Countries on the Asian continent, excluding Central
> Eurasia, the Commonwealth of Independent States, and Southeast Asia.
>
> **Australia** -- All Provinces of Australia.
>
> **Canada** -- All Provinces of Canada.
>
> **Commonwealth of Independent States** -- Countries of the former
> Soviet Union, excluding the Balkan states.
>
> **Europe** -- Countries of Eastern Europe, including the Balkan
> states, and Western Europe, including Iceland and the United Kingdom.
>
> **Latin America** -- Countries in the Caribbean, Central America,
> Mexico, and South America.
>
> **Middle East** -- Countries on the Arabian Peninsula and surrounding
> countries, including Turkey.
>
> **Pacific Region** -- Countries on the Pacific Rim, excluding
> Australia, but including countries of Southeast Asia.
>
> **United States** -- The 50 U.S. States and Puerto Rico.

**Country** Country in which site is located. For Australia, Canada, or
the United States, the Province or State of site location.

**Top 100** Site was considered significant enough to appear in Table 2
of Mining Engineering summary article.

**Site** Names associated with the activity, as reported by the source.
In the case where multiple names are given, primary name reported first.
A name in parenthesis indicates an alternate name for the same site.

**Company** Shortened name of company reporting the data, usually the
company conducting the exploration or an affiliated company by joint
venture agreement.

**Commodity(ies)** Mineral commodity or commodities targeted for
exploration, express by elemental symbol or chemical formula. Order of
commodities as stated by source of information and does not necessarily
represent order of importance by quantity or value.

**Phase** Exploration phase, denoted: *Developing* -- Approved for
development or construction ongoing; *Exploration* -- Active
exploration; *Feasibility* -- Feasibility work ongoing or completed;
*Producer* -- Exploration at producing site.

**Type** Indicator of the relationship to previous exploration activity
in the area, denoted: *Continuing*---Continuation of exploration
activity; *Extension*---Extension of delineated resource; *New*---New
area not reported by current company in previous year's survey.

**Reported resource** The quantity of reserve or resource as reported by
the source of information. No attempt was made to further define the
resource level beyond what was reported or to verify the existence of
the reported resource.

**Resource level** Where possible, information was set to conform to
resource level as defined by USGS Circular 831. Standards may vary
between countries and companies. Reported resources may vary from
measured reserves to identified resources.

**Activity type(s)** Principle exploration activities that occurred or
planned for the specified year. Drilling length has been converted to
meters using a conversion factor of 0.3048 feet per meter.

**Financial data** Value of planned or actual exploration expenditure,
or other specified economic parameter. Where no currency units were
expressed, value assumed to be in Australian dollars if Australian
company, Canadian dollars if Canadian company, or U.S. dollars if U.S.
company.

**Source of information** Bibliographic data for the data source, if
published. Includes abbreviated name of reference, date of publication,
and page number, if known. May not conform to USGS bibliographic style.
MIT refers to data provided to the author by other USGS scientists.

**Notes** Freeform field describing current exploration activities,
usually reported using specific terminology used by the data source.

**Reported location** Location information given if provided by source
of information. Latitude/longitude coordinates were extracted from the
Infomine database (Infomine Inc., Vancouver, B.C., Canada, accessed
various dates at URL
[http://www.infomine.com](http://www.infomine.com/)). No attempt was
made to determine the accuracy of site locations.

**ABBREVIATIONS AND DEFINITIONS**

Common abbreviations or definitions of commonly used terms include:

**Drilling types**

diamond Diamond core drilling provides high level of reliability from
core samples of hard rock formations.

RC Reverse circulation core drilling provides high level of reliability
from chip or core samples of soft rock formations.

RAB Rotary air blast drilling provides low level of reliability from
chip samples.

**Length**

km kilometers

mi miles

**Location**

d degrees of latitude/longitude

E east of a specified point

m minutes of latitude/longitude

N north of a specified point

NE northeast of a specified point

NW northwest of a specified point

S south of a specified point

SE southeast of a specified point

SW southwest of a specified point

W west of a specified point

**Resource levels**

Measured (M) Denotes resource quantity computed from dimensions revealed
from outcrops, trenches, workings, or closely-spaced drill holes; grade
computed from the results of detailed sampling.

M+I Includes measured plus indicated resources, in which quantity and
grade are computed from information similar to measured resources, but
the sampling sites or drill holes are further apart. The degree of
assurance is less than measured resources but high enough to assume
continuity between points of observation. Essentially equivalent to
demonstrated level as reported by USGS Circular 831.

M+I+I Measured plus indicated plus inferred resources, in which
estimates are based on an assumed continuity beyond measured and
indicated resources, for which there is geologic evidence. Inferred
resources may or may not be supported by samples or measurements.

P+P Denotes proven plus probable reserves, popular terms similar to
reserve base as defined by USGS Circular 831. Generally, reserves denote
that part of the identified resource that meets specified physical and
chemical criteria related to current mining and production practices,
including grade, quality, thickness, and depth. Proven reserves are
considered economic by most companies, probable reserves may be economic
under specified economic conditions.

Reserve Undifferentiated resource with a relatively high level of
economic assurance. Should not be considered necessarily equivalent to
the reserve reported in USGS Circular 831. Indicates a relatively high
degree of assurance that the quantity may be economically recoverable,
but this definition can vary significantly from company to company.

Resource Undifferentiated resource with a relatively low level of
economic assurance. Should not be considered necessarily equivalent to
the resource reported in USGS Circular 831. Indicates a concentration of
a mineral commodity in such form and amount that economic extraction of
the commodity is currently or potentially feasible.

**Weights and Measures**

g/t grams per metric ton

gm grams

k thousand

kg kilograms

koz thousand troy ounces

kt thousand metric tons

lb pounds

M million

Moz million troy ounces

Mt million metric tons

oz troy ounces

oz/t ounces per metric ton

t metric tons

ton metric tons