ground sluice

American  

noun

Mining.

1. a trench, cut through a placer or through bedrock, through which a stream is diverted in order to dislodge and wash the gravel.

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Other Word Forms

• ground-sluicer
  noun

Etymology

Origin of ground sluice

First recorded in 1865–70

Example Sentences

Well, soon as I sold the stock I hit for the lake front and began to ground sluice the coal dust off of my palate.

From Pardners by Beach, Rex Ellingwood

Any one who has worked a ground sluice knows how extremely difficult it is with a strong head of water to shift from its position an ounce of solid gold.

From Getting Gold: a practical treatise for prospectors, miners and students by Johnson, J. C. F. (Joseph Colin Frances)