drift mine
Americannoun
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a mine the opening of which is dug into an outcrop of coal or ore.
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an underground placer mine.
Etymology
Origin of drift mine
An Americanism dating back to 1885–90
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It's a decade since four miners were killed when water rushed into a south Wales drift mine.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2021
Charles Breslin, 62, David Powell, 50, Philip Hill, 44, and Garry Jenkins, 39, drowned in 2011 when 650,000 gallons of water flooded the drift mine following a controlled explosion.
From BBC ● Nov. 26, 2014
The future of the Unity Mine, a drift mine near Neath, has been uncertain after management said they only had work for 66 of its 220 staff.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2013
The colliery is a drift mine, a relatively low-cost form of underground mining, when tunnels -- drifts -- are dug horizontally into rock, rather than directly downwards.
From Reuters ● Sep. 16, 2011
The plan is to create a drift mine – cheaper than deep mining and less destructive to the environment than open-cast.
From Newsweek
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
