wash-dirt Mining.
[wash n. or v.]
Auriferous soil or gravel to be submitted to washing.
| 1862 Otago: Goldfields & Resources 20 All the wash⁓dirt is auriferous. 1864 E. A. Murray Ella Norman III. 58 Under the wash-dirt or stuff..there is always pipeclay. 1864 J. Rogers New Rush ii. 30 A bucket-full of wash-dirt tried—the best—Is of its value a sufficient test. 1877 Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 43 Large piles of wash-dirt are accumulated to be washed in the winter. 1890 Goldfields of Victoria 28 Good tin can be obtained, mixed with a fair percentage of gold in the dish of washdirt. |