Mining Terms
- Assay Office
- a place where the mineral content of gold can be evaluated using chemical analysis
- bar
- refers to the bank of sand or gravel that extends into a river OR a bar of sand in the middle of a river. (In British Columbia, the community of Boston Bar was established along a bar on the Fraser River.)
- bedrock
- solid rock beneath the soil
- bullion
- unrefined gold (raw material); also refined gold in bars and coins
- carat
- a unit of weight for gold; one carat = 200 milligrams
- claim
- a piece of land staked out by a miner for working. He has the only right to mine on that land.
- colors
- term used to indicate finding evidence of gold; also a term forgold flakes
- diggings
- an early mining term which refers to a claim being worked forgold
- dust
- gold in a powder state as found in placer mining
- Eldorado
- any place rich in gold
- flakes
- gold in very small bits
- gold fever
- the excitement and rush to the gold fields
- lode
- a vein of metallic ore (e.g. gold) filling a well
- defined fissure in the rock.
- mother lode
- the main lode, or vein, of gold.
- nugget
- a lump of gold, any size, usually larger than a match head.
- pan
- a shallow and wide metal dish used for panning gold.
- panning
- A method of mining using a pan. Gravel is lifted into a pan from the stream. The gravel is washed in the pan by gently moving the pan from left to right and using a swirling motion. The lighter materials and water flow over the sides of the pan and the heavier gold particles settle on the bottom of the pan.
- pay streak
- the bottom of an old stream or riverbed filled with goldflakes or nuggets.
- pay dirt
- An expression to describe gold rich ore taken from claims.Earth or rock that has enough metal, such as gold, in it to be worth mining.
- placer gold
- Name given to loose gold carried down the river or stream from a hill. Rain loosens the gold particles and washes them into streambed deposits called placers (pronounced plass
- ers). It tends to collect on the curves of the stream.
- poke
- The amount of gold dust or nuggets that a miner owns. This gold isusually carried in a leather poke or pouch.
- prospector
- a person who prospects for gold.
- rocker box or rocker
- A wooden rectangular box on rockers used by gold miners. The rocking motion moves dirt and water through the box. The gold flakes or nuggets are caught on riffles (grooves or slats).
- sluice box
- like the rocker box but much longer. A water source is directed down the sluice box to wash the gravel which is shoveled into the sluice box. Gold is caught by riffles similar to the rocker box.
- sourdough
- an old-time, experienced prospector or miner in northernBritish Columbia and the Yukon
- stake
- a wooden peg driven into the ground every 25 feet (7.62 meters)to mark the boundaries of a claim.
- tailings
- the waste left from mining
- workings
- a part of a mine or area where work has been done
(Source: The Gold Rush Frenzy. Louise Steele. Module 1; The Gold Seekers, Claim Stakes in the Gold Fields. 1994. Creative Curriculum Inc.)
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Last updated 31 August 1998. This digital collection was produced under contract to the SchoolNet Digital Collections Program, Industry Canada. Produced by Schoolnet Digital Collections Team. |
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