gold mine

American  

noun

gold mines plural

1. a mine yielding gold.

2. a source of great wealth or profit, or any desirable thing.

3. a copious source or reserve of something required.

   a gold mine of information about antiques.

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gold mine British  

noun

1. a place where gold ore is mined

2. a source of great wealth, profit, etc

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gold mine Idioms  

1. A rich, plentiful source of wealth or some other desirable thing, as in That business proved to be a gold mine, or She's a gold mine of information about the industry. [First half of 1800s]

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• gold-miner
  noun
• gold-mining
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• gold mines
  plural

Etymology

Origin of gold mine

late Middle English word dating back to 1425–75

Example Sentences

About 27 miles to the south of Tonopah, near the town of Goldfield, a new gold mine is set to open in 2028.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 14, 2026

Apple’s foray into services, its constant striving to anticipate any features and peripherals that might let another rectangle maker steal a march on the iPhone, are all about defending the gold mine.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 8, 2026

Jobs had to realize his gold mine before the market would credit Apple with a gold mine.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 8, 2026

Last July, 18 workers were rescued from an unlicensed gold mine after having been trapped underground for 18 hours due to a mechanical failure.

From BBC • May 5, 2026

“All right, I’m going to get dinner started. Will you two do me a favor and run over to the gold mine and fire Bob?”

From "Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus" by Dusti Bowling