goldminers
Pan-wielding fortune hunters
Goldminers are people who extract gold from the earth, whether through large-scale industrial operations or individual prospecting.
The term evokes both historical gold rushes—when fortune seekers flooded into California, Alaska, and Australia—and modern mining industries.
The goldminers worked twelve-hour shifts in the tunnels.
Act of unearthing
- drillingHole-making by rotation
- tunnelingDigging underground passages
- shaftNarrow vertical passage
- pickaxePointed digging implement
shovel · dredge · sluice · panning · sifting · hauling · digging · blasting
Statement of ownership or truth
- stakingRisking something valuable
- panningLateral camera traverse
- surveyingMeasuring and charting terrain
- mappingDiagram of correspondences
exploration · scouting · sampling · sluice box · prospector · creek · riverbed · gravel bar
Metal-bearing rock
- veinVessel toward heart
- lodeMineral-rich rock seam
- motherlodePrimary ore deposit
- quartzCrystalline silicon dioxide
nuggets · alluvial · placer · bedrock · minerals · assay · strike · deposit
Yukon gold rush region
- Sutter's Mill1848 gold discovery location
- forty-niners1849 gold rush migrants
- boomtownRapidly growing community
- ghost townDeserted former inhabited place
stampede · fever · Eureka · California · Yukon · migration · settlers · tent city
Suddenly acquire great wealth
- bonanzaSudden large windfall
- windfallUnanticipated lucky gain
- nuggetsSmall solid lumps
- motherlodePrimary ore deposit
wealth · prosperity · paydirt · jackpot · treasure · grubstake · payout · claim jumper
excavation
Act of unearthing
pickaxe · shovel · dredge · sluice · panning · sifting · hauling · digging · blasting · carts
claim
Statement of ownership or truth
- stakingRisking something valuable
- panningLateral camera traverse
- surveyingMeasuring and charting terrain
mapping · exploration · scouting · sampling · sluice box · prospector · creek · riverbed · gravel bar · wilderness
ore
Metal-bearing rock
- veinVessel toward heart
- lodeMineral-rich rock seam
- motherlodePrimary ore deposit
quartz · nuggets · alluvial · placer · bedrock · minerals · assay · strike · deposit · seam
Klondike
Yukon gold rush region
- Sutter's Mill1848 gold discovery location
- forty-niners1849 gold rush migrants
- boomtownRapidly growing community
ghost town · stampede · fever · Eureka · California · Yukon · migration · settlers · tent city · saloon
strike it rich
Suddenly acquire great wealth
motherlode · wealth · prosperity · paydirt · jackpot · treasure · grubstake · payout · claim jumper · boom and bust
goldminersconservationists
Advocates for protecting nature