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Faces of the Gold Rush


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Thompson River First Nations





The following is a glossary of mining terminology popular with old prospectors and modern miners. It is by no means a comprehensive collection of mining terms, phrases, minerals or equipment, but it should be sufficient to give a working knowledge.

Source: The Gold Panner's Guide. 1974.

ADIT
A horizontal or inclined entrance into a mine.
ALCHEMY
The forerunner of modern chemistry. Its chief aims were the transmuting of baser metals into gold, and the discovery of an elixir of life.
ALLOY
When two or more metals are melted or joined together, an alloy is formed. This is done to harden or strengthen other metals, such as silver added to gold; or to form a metal not found in nature, e.g., copper and zinc to form brass. Alloys have different properties from their constituent elements; e.g., they are poorer conductors of heat and electricity, often harder, and, with the exception of aluminum alloys, more resistant to corrosion.
ALLUVIAL MINING
The practice of working a natural alluvial fan where centuries of erosions has washed down great mountains into wide, sloping deposits of loosely packed dirt, stones, gravel and boulders. (See also Deposits)
AMALGAMATION
This is a mining term relating to the combination of metal such as silver, platinum or gold, with mercury. Amalgamation is one of the simplest and easiest ways of recovering fine gold from concentrates.
ANALYSIS
(See Assay)
ANCIENT STREAMBED
Due to landslides, earth tremors and other natural forces, the course of a river was often dammed and forced to seek alternate routes. These "old channels", or ancient riverbeds are eagerly sought by prospectors, as their gold-bearing gravels have never been touched.
ANNEAL
The process of heating, then cooling slowly, for the purpose of making metals less brittle.
APRON
The burlap or canvas apron is the part of the rocker that is stretched across a frame, at an incline, beneath the hopper. It traps the fine particles of gold as they fall through the perforated holes of the hopper's bottom.
AQUA REGIA
A mixture containing one part nitric acid to four parts of hydrochloric acid which is strong enough to dissolve gold and platinum.
ASSAY
The evaluation or analysis of ore to determine the proportion of gold, silver or other valuable metals. Usually an assay is done by chemical methods and was fairly accurate.
ASSIMILATE
This is the ability of mercury to absorb gold, silver or platinum into a common ball, or alloy, called amalgam, while ignoring lighter sands and gravel.
AURIFEROUS QUARTZ MINING
These are mines where the production of gold is the main ore, not a by product.
AVOIRDUPOIS WEIGHT
This refers to the common English and American system of weight measure. This system is not used for medicine, gold or other precious minerals.
437 Omega=1 ounce
7000 grains=16 ounces
16 ounces=1 pound
BAKED POTATO METHOD
A method of separating gold from the amalgam.
BAR
This term was given to submerged sandbars that formed in a creek or river. It increased in size as dirt, sand, gravel, black sands and gold were deposited. Sandbars have produced great quantities of gold in the past and should not be overlooked today, if you employ equipment which can wash it rapidly.
BARREN
An area of a river or stream that is incapable of producing gold, or produces exceedingly little.
BASE-METAL MINING
This is the mining of metals such as copper, lead, zinc, tin, aluminum, etc., as opposed to precious metals such as silver, gold or platinum.
BATTERY
Another name for a stamp mill.
BEDROCK
Originally, this referred to the solid rock bottom of a stream or river. A false bedrock is formed when the feldspar portion of eroded rocks gathers and settles. creating a tough clay or cemented-gravel. The largest quantities of gold are generally recovered within a couple of feet above bedrock.
BENCHES
A flat area above a stream or river.
BLACK SAND
Usually composed of hematite and magnetite, black sands are heavier than ordinary sands and settle much in the same manner as does gold. For this reason, black sands are good indicators of gold and should never be overlooked. When panning, black sands will normally comprise most of the concentrates remaining in the pan.
BONANZA
This is a term used to describe an exceptionally rich and persistent vein of ore, usually gold.
BULLION
A term used to describe raw gold or silver that is ready to be shipped to the mint. When the metal has been reduced to nearly pure form, it is then cast into bars or ingots for easy storage and shipping. Occasionally other forms were used. The famed Bullion Mine in the Cariboo once melted one big clean-up into the form of a large naval gunshell. It weighed 650 lbs. and was valued at $178,000.
BYPRODUCT
A secondary product obtained while mining something else. For example, gold is often a byproduct of a copper mining operation, which means copper is the main metal mined, but some gold is also recovered.
CACHE
This was a temporary hiding place for gold or other wealth, including supplies, food or equipment. Basically, anything hidden by the owner until his return.
CALAVERITE
A gold ore with a whitish, metallic luster composed of gold in combination with tellurium.
CARAT
A measure of weight for gold or precious gems. Pure gold is 24 carats.
CELESTIALS
An expression used to describe Chinese miners. The term was in wide-spread use during the California gold rush, and was brought into British Columbia when the Forty-Niners came north. The word originated from the Celestial Empire of China.
CEMENTED-GRAVEL
A hard, tightly-packed material that is frequently rich in gold. It can accumulate and form a false bedrock.
CHAMOIS
A kind of soft leather used to squeeze out the mercury from the amalgam before burning.
CHINA DIGGINGS
A term used to describe an area which was abandoned by whites as unprofitable, but was still being worked by the Chinese. Some of these often proved to be far richer than the white men thought.
CHINA WAGES
A term used to describe the wages accepted by Chinese workers which would have been considered low or unacceptable to white miners.
CLAIM
An area that has been filed with the proper government agency for the extraction of gold or other metals. It gave the prospector the rights to the minerals within his claim for a certain period of time. The boundaries of the claim were marked by stakes, piles of rocks, etc. A can containing the description and particulars of the claim was usually placed on or near one of the posts.
CLAIM JUMPER
Someone who seizes, or illegally restakes a claim which has already been filed by another prospector.
CLAY
(See Cemented-Gravel)
CLEAN-UP
A term used to describe the cleaning-up of concentrates from the riffles of rockers, sluices, dredges, etc., after the gold-bearing gravel has been washed. These concentrates are then processed, usually through amalgamation, to recover the gold.
COARSE GOLD
Rough, unrefined nuggets of gold which vary in size. Gold that has travelled a considerable distance is usually worn smooth; therefore, coarse gold is an indication of limited travel.
COLOUR
A term used to describe the minute specs of gold in gravel. Colours, though themselves minuscule, are indicators of gold in a particular stream or river.
CONCENTRATES
This is the name given to the material that remains in the gold pan, rocker, sluice, etc., after washing. Concentrates are usually composed of black sands, gold and silver, but particles of platinum and a variety of other minerals could be included.
CONDUIT
A channel or pipe used for conveying water.
CORE DRILL
These are usually core samples extracted from solid rock to test for mineral content without blasting away tons of rock.
CREVICE
A crack or narrow fissure in bedrock which tends to accumulate and trap gold. Small cracks can hold large quantities of gold, and are usually the best prospects for the gold panner.
DEAD WORK
This phrase was used by prospectors to describe the work of clearing away over-burden to get at the gold-bearing gravel.
DEPOSITS
This usually refers to an area where gold or other metal has been found. There are two types of placer deposits; eluvial deposits, located near the originating lode; and alluvial deposits, found at considerable distances from the originating lode.
DIGGINGS
This name usually applied to claims that were currently being worked for gold, silver, or other ore.
DISCOVERY CLAIM
This was the first claim filed on a given stream or river. The other claims were then staked above and below the discovery claim, which was legally larger than any other claim on the creek.
DREDGE
A dredge is a machine used for scooping or sucking goldbearing gravel from the riverbed. There are numerous types and sizes, ranging from the small, portable, compact models that can easily be operated by one man, to large barge-type dredges for clearing mud from harbour entrances. Next to hydraulic mining, nothing destroys the landscape faster than dredges.
DRIFT
"Drift" mining simply means tunnelling a horizontal shaft that leads from a central deposit or ore. Drifts can run for hundreds, even thousands of feet, as miners traced tiny seams of gold fanning out from the original strike.
DRY PLACER
A deposit of gold or precious metal found on dry ground.
DRY WASHER
This is a device used to work claims without the use of water. Instead, a small billows blows away the light materials, leaving the gold and heavy particles to be panned later.
DUCTILITY
The ability of metals to be drawn out in fine wires without breaking.
DUST
This term refers to particles of gold so minute that they resemble dust. In the old days, the amount of gold dust a miner could pinch between his thumb and forefinger constituted one dollar, while a whisky glass full was worth $100.00.
EL DORADO
Originally derived from the Spanish, referring to a legend about a land of gold and plenty. It is now used frequently to describe a place of fabulous wealth, a region abounding in gold and precious gems.
ELECTRUM
An alloy of gold and silver.
FELDSPAR
A constituent of granite, basalt, and other igneous rocks that form a large part of the earth's crust. Clay is the chief substance formed when weathering decomposes feldspars. (See also Bedrock)
FINE GOLD
Generally, this term refers to gold which can pass through a 40-mesh screen. It includes fine gold and dust, which, in your pan, will appear as colour so small that it can only be collected by amalgamation.
FINENESS
This is a word used to indicate the purity of gold.
FLAKE GOLD
These are small chips of gold, or pieces that have been flattened in transit.
FLAT
A word describing a level spot, often near a stream or river, that was suitable for a settlement.
FLOATATION PROCESS
A method for recovering gold from crushed ore and concentrates.
FLOUR GOLD
An extremely fine gold that is difficult to save. It is uneconomical to pan flour gold because of its almost powdery, size and weight.
FOOL'S GOLD
(See Pyrite)
FLUME
An inclined waterway, most often a channel dug in the hillside to transport water to hydraulic mining camps. Simply described, they are similar to a long series of sluices, and in fact, the name flume was once synonymous with sluice.
FRACTION
A small portion of ground lying between two claims which could not be staked by either as it exceeded their legal limits. "Twelve-foot" Davis, was so named after a 12-foot fraction on Williams Creek which he worked between two other claims. After recovering over $12,000, Davis sold the fraction, which then yielded over $100,000.
FULMINATE OF MERCURY
An explosive substance made by dissolving mercury in nitric acid and adding alcohol.
GANGUE
The worthless minerals associated with metal ore deposits.
GEOLOGY
The science of the rocks and strata of the earth's crust.
GIANT MONITOR
An apparatus fitted with a nozzle used in hydraulic mining. Water is forced through the nozzle under great pressure, then directed against gold-bearing gravel. The material is then washed into sluices where the gold can be separated.
GLORY HOLE
A term used by miners to describe a small, but unusually rich deposit of gold.
GOLD BEATER
Someone who beats gold into thin sheets.
GOLD LEAF
Gold beaten into extremely thin sheets.
GOLD RUSH
The wild scramble by prospectors to reach the new goldfields.
GRADIENT
The slope or descent of a stream or river.
GRAIN
This term is used to describe small particles of gold, and is also used as a unit of weight. (See Avoidupois and Troy Weights)
GRAVEL
The gold-bearing material in a stream which you must wash to recover gold.
GRIZZLY
A device used to keep rocks and boulders out of a sluice box.
HALF-LIFE
The rate of decay of radioactive materials.
HALOGENS
Any member of the family of very active elements consisting of fluorine, chlorine, bromine, and iodine. Chemically the hologens resemble one another closely and form a saline compound by simple combination with a metal.
HARDROCK MINING
This usually refers to quartz mining and is said to have originated in California about 1850. First a main shaft had to be sunk, then horizontal shafts or drifts would be cut that followed the various seams of gold as it led from the main deposit. As this type of mining required a sizable investment, the small operator was quickly eliminated.
HARDPAN
(See Cemented-Gravel)
HEAD FRAME
This applied to the heavy timber frame found above most hardrock mine sites. It was used to hoist ore from the depths of the mine, and also as an elevator to hoist and lower workmen.
HEMATITE
A form of native iron ore, blood-red in colour. (See Black Sand).
HIDDEN VALUE
The unseen values usually found in black sands, which in many cases, could not be detected by the naked eye.
HOPPER
The tray in the upper end of a rocker.
HYDRAULIC MINING
In hydraulic mining, water under great pressure was discharged through monitors against a gold-bearing hillside. The force of the water would wash away the hillside, flushing the silt and gravel through sluices where it could be separated and the gold recovered. Hydraulicking could-and often did-completely ruin the landscape.
HYDROCHLORIC ACID
The only known compound of hydrogen and chlorine made by dissolving the corrosive gaseous compound, hydrogen chlorine, in water. (See also Aqua Regia).
INGOT
A metal bar, especially of silver or gold, usually cast from a mold for convenience in handling and measuring.
IRIDIUM
A silvery metallic element belonging to the platinum group.
JADE
A very hard, semi-precious stone, usually dark green in colour, that is carved for ornaments or used in jewelry. Frequently found in British Columbia.
JIGA
partly or fully watersubmerged screen that is shaken to wash or sort particles by weight and size. Also called jigger.
LODE
A metallic vein in the earth's crust, especially silver or gold. These lodes were the original source of placer gold.
LONG TOM
This was a special sluice box of extra length so that it could capture extra fine particles of gold.
LOW GRADE
Deposits of gold, silver, or other metals, which exist in insufficient quantities to be worked economically, except through large-scale methods.
MAGNETITE
A magnetic form of iron ore also known as lodestone. (See Black Sand).
MALLEABLE
The ability of a metal to be hammered without breaking.
MARCASITE
A white iron pyrite used in jewelry because of its brilliance.
MERCURY
A heavy, liquid metal, silvery-white in colour, with a very low melting point. Used to recover gold, silver and platinum from concentrates. Also called Quicksilver.
METALLURGY
The art of working metals or of obtaining metals from ores.
MONITOR
(See Giant monitor)
MOSS-Small, thickly growing, cryptogamous plant which thrives on moist surfaces. Gold often accumulates in moss, which should be broken up and panned carefully before discarding.
MOTHER LODE
A vein or streak of gold or other precious metal in the earth's crust from which placer deposits originate.
NITRIC ACID
A highly corrosive, colourless liquid that emits choking fumes into air. A diluted solution is used to clean the gold-bearing concentrates before amalgamation, and also to clean mercury that has become dirty. (See Aqua Regia).
NOBLE METALS
Metals which do not have great chemical activity, particularly gold, which is neither corroded by moisture nor affected by oxygen or ordinary acids.
NOVICE
An amateur or inexperienced prospector or miner.
NUGGET
A rough lump or mass of native gold of no particular size. These range in size from the head of a match to nearly 200 pounds. The largest United States nugget, weighing 195 pounds, came from California. The largest in British Columbia, weighing 73 ounces. This nugget, weighing 73 ounces, was found on McDame Creek in 1877 by Alfred Freeman. It is the largest gold nugget ever found in B.C.came from McDame Creek.
OIL
The preservative coating which must be burned off steel gold pans before using.
OLD CHANNEL
(See Ancient Streambed)
ORE
Rock containing metals or their compounds in sufficient quantities to be mined.
OUNCE A DAY
In the early days, ground that yielded an ounce of gold a day, through panning, was considered rich ground.
OUTCROP
The point where the vein or lode of a metal comes to the surface of the earth's crust and is visible.
OVERBURDEN
Generally, the low-grade material which must be first cleared away to get at the rich gold-bea ring gravel just above bedrock.
PALLADIUM
A rare metal of the platinum group.
PAN
A broad shallow vessel of metal or plastic used to wash gold-bearing gravel.
PANNING
The act of washing gold-bearing gravel with a gold pan, batea, or other similar vessel.
PAY
A word used to describe gold-bearing gravel that returns wages or better to the miner.
PAYDIRT
This is a term used to describe an area where a prospector has found gold, e.g., "struck paydirt."
PENNYWEIGHT
A Troy weight of 24 grains. (See Troy Weights)
PETER OUT
A common expression that applied to a claim, mine, or deposit that had been thoroughly worked over, leaving only the worthless rubble behind.
PLACER
Generally, this word refers to deposits of gold-bearing gravel. (See Deposits)
PLACER MINING
The act of recovering gold from placer deposits by means of a gold pan, rocker, sluice, dredge, etc. Placer mining depends largely on water for washing and separating the gold and gravel.
PLATINUM
A rare, silvery-white malleable metal. It is harder than gold, but very ductile. In B.C. it was discovered in the Similkameen region, but was discarded as worthless by all except the Chinese.
PLAYED-OUT
(See Peter-Out)
POCKET
An unusually large concentration of gold in a small area was often referred to as a pocket". (See also Glory Hole)
POKE
A small leather bag or pouch, usually two inches wide and six inches deep, with a drawstring at the top. These were used as wallets by miners to carry gold dust and nuggets.
POORMAN'S DIGGINGS
This term did not mean that the area being worked was low grade or yielding small quantities of gold, but rather that it could be worked by a miner with a rocker or sluice with very little capital. Hence, it could be worked by a poor man.
POT HOLE
A cavity formed in bedrock by the action of stones in the eddy of a stream. They are highly overrated as gold producers, as the gold is eventually ground into fine dust and escapes.
PRODUCTION
The total yield or "production" of gold or other precious metal from a mine, claim or deposit.
PROSPECTING
The act of searching for gold, silver, copper, lead, or any other valuable metal. In the case of placer gold deposits, the prospector retrieves the gold as he finds it, thus becoming a miner. If lodes or low-grade metals are located, the prospector usually sells or leases the rights to them to a large mining company which has the necessary equipment and resources to mine them, and he continues looking, or "prospecting," for new finds.
PUDDLING BOX
A box used to break up tough clay or cemented gravel.
PYRITE
A name for many compounds of metals with sulphur or arsenic, especially iron pyrites or copper pyrites. Pyrite is brass-yellow and brittle, but because of its colour, is often mistaken for gold, hence the name "fool's gold."
QUARTZ
One of the most common materials found in the mother lode. It consists of pure silica or silicon dioxide and is formed in massive and in hexagonal crystals. Quartz may be transparent, translucent, opaque, colourless or coloured. Most of the hardrock mining done for gold comes from quartz veins.
QUICKSILVER
(See Mercury)
REAGENT
Any substance, generally in a solution, employed to bring about a characteristic reaction in a chemical analysis.
RECOVERY
The act of "recovering" fine gold from the heavy concentrates, usually through amalgamation.
REFINE
To reduce crude metals to a finer, purer state.
RETORT
An apparatus used to separate an amalgam of gold and mercury, through heating, which saves the mercury for future use.
RHODIUM
A hard, silver-white metallic element found in river sands or rocks associated with other members of the platinum family to which it belongs.
RICH
Ground where gold or other precious metals abound.
RIDDLE
A large perforated iron sheet which forms the bottom of the hopper in a rocker, used for sifting or screening gravel. (See diagram and description on page 60).
RIFFLES
Simply stated, these are obstructions which line the bottom of a rocker, sluice or dredge, collecting the fine gold. Different types of riffles include; common riffles, zig-zag riffles, block riffles, stone riffles, poles riffles, etc. (See diagrams and description on pages 62 & 63).
RIM
The outer border or edge of a gold pan.
ROCKER
A device consisting of a box which rests on "rockers," and which is used to wash placer deposits. (See diagram and description on page 60).
SKIM
The practice of removing the froth from the surface during the floatation method of recovering gold.
SLOPE
The gradient of a stream or terrain.
SLUICE BOX
The sluice was invented by a party of Nevada miners in 1850. It consisted of a long trough leading down from their claim to their Long Tom. The sluice was an immediate success, becoming a standard tool of the California gold rush, and was later brought north into Canada.
SLUICING
The act of washing gold from river gravel through the use of a sluice box.
SNIPING
In miner's jargon, this word meant the act of prospecting and re-working old claims, dumps, and other sites that have been abandoned. It also refers to cleaning out bedrock cracks.
STAKE
This could refer to the act of "staking" a legal claim by following the necessary regulations (See Claim), or it could refer to the occasions when a miner had accumulated enough gold to retire, either temporarily or permanently. In the latter case, the miner is said to have "made a stake."
STAMP MILL
A piece of heavy machinery that is power-operated and smashes the hardrock ore into a powder so that it can be processed for gold or other precious metals.
STRIKE
This usually denoted the discovery of gold or silver. Once a ',strike", or discovery had been made, hundreds, or even thousands, would swarm into the area.
SUCTION DREDGE
(See Dredge)
TAILING
This word describes the waste material that is left or discarded after the gold is removed. Also called dumps, these are generally piles or rocks or debris left from the mining operation. Once considered worthless, tailings have become a target for modern prospectors. Occasionally large nuggets were discarded with the stones; or valuable metals, unknown to early prospectors, were tossed aside.
TAILING WHEELS
These were wheels used to transport the waste material from the mines to a place some distance away.
TRANSMUTATION
(see Alchemy)
TRAY
(See Hopper]
TRESTLE
In mining a trestle is a wooden frame consisting of braced legs fixed underneath horizontal bars, used to support a sluice or series of sluices.
TRIBUTARY
A branch of a stream flowing into a larger stream.
TROUGH
A long, open vessel carrying water and gold-bearing gravel.
TROY WEIGHT
A system of weight measurement for precious gems and metals. This system is different from avoir dupois weight with which most of us are familiar.
24 grains=1 pennyweight
20 pennyweights=1 troy ounce
12 troy ounces=1 troy pound
UNALLOYED
A metal in the pure state, not alloyed with any other metal.
UNDERCURRENT
A current under the surface of the main stream, sometimes flowing in a contrary direction.
UNPRODUCTIVE
A mine or stream that was abandoned because it was unprofitable to work. Due to the recent escalation in the price of gold, many of these abandoned areas are being reopened.
WASHING
Any material that is considered worthless after the gold has been removed. (See Tailing)
WEATHERED
A term meaning well-worn, generally referring to bedrock, and a result of glacial and water action.
WET PLACER
A deposit of gold or other precious metal located under water.
WELCOME STRANGER NUGGET
An enormous nugget of gold weighing 2,280 ounces and yielding 2,248 ounces of gold.
WHEEL
This refers to a variety of water-wheels employed to provide water for mining. These were put to effective use on the Fraser river.
WING-DAM
This was a dam that divided a riverbed miners wanted to work, lengthwise, allowing water to flow through sluice boxes and other devices set up to wash the gravel. These were put effective use on the Fraser River.
WORKED OUT
(See Peter out)
YIELD
(See Production)

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Last updated 31 August 1998.
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