Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 January 2016
Let X be a 3-dimensional terminal singularity of index ≥ 2. We shall construct projective birational morphisms ƒ: Y → X such that Y has only Gorenstein terminal singularities and that ƒ factors the minimal resolution of a general member of | −KX |. We also study prime divisors of ƒ, especially the discrepancies of these prime divisors.