mine dump, noun phrase

Origin:
EnglishShow more English mine + dump pile of earth which accumulates during mining operations. Cf. dump.
A hill of solidified crushed quartz, built up from the residue of gold-mining operations; dump. Also attributive.
Note:
A term also used elsewhere, but particularly common in South African English, as mine dumps are a dominant feature of the landscape in certain areas, especially near Johannesburg.
1909 Westminster Gaz. (U.K.) 11 Feb. 3Such statements as that..a mine dump can contain 40,000 tons, and that such a dump consists of 10 per cent. of pitchblende.
1922 Rand Daily Mail in J. Crwys-Williams S. Afr. Despatches (1989) 238A runner came in from the mine dump shouting: ‘The police are round at the back.’
1936 R.J.M. Goold-Adams S. Afr. To-Day & To-Morrow 159Almost on top of the heart of Johannesburg itself the mine-dumps began again.., like yellow downs piled up not by God, but by the hand of man over half a century.
1946 P. Abrahams Mine Boy (1954) 44Those are the mine dumps. They are made of the sand that’s dug out of the earth when the miners seek for gold.
1953 U. Krige Dream & Desert 143The mine dumps, dominating the scene and continually changing colour, reminded me of brown pyramids, grey flat-topped hills in the Karoo, the ochre foundations of gigantic old temples never completed.
1965 C. Van Heyningen Orange Days 68The town was surrounded by mine dumps — yellow mountains of sand spewed up from underground, where thousands of men, white and black, worked like moles digging out the gold-bearing rocks.
1972 S. Afr. Panorama May 29It has been estimated that the mine dumps of the Witwatersrand are among the largest man-made landmarks, comparable perhaps to the pyramids or to Manhattan Island.
1978 ‘Blossom’ in Darling 30 Aug. 123The Golden City, Egoli, the mine-dump masterpiece of the west — in a word, Joeys.
1987 E. Keyter in S. Afr. Panorama Oct. 26On South Africa’s goldfields, which stretch from Virginia in the Orange Free State to Evander in the Transvaal, there are 740 gold mine-dumps at present. Producing mining companies are responsible for the rehabilitation of sand and silt piled on mine-dumps so that it does not create a dust problem or cause water pollution. The gold mine-dumps in the RSA extend over 44000 hectares.
1989 J. Hobbs Thoughts in Makeshift Mortuary 227A mine dump off which the fine yellow sand blew in sheets when it was windy.
1989 Weekend Post 2 Dec. (Leisure) 5On the Reef the youngsters learn how the city of Johannesburg grew from the mine dumps and learn how to bake Mine Dump Bread.
1990 P. Esterhuysen in Staffrider Vol.9 No.1, 9Clogged highways glistened like necklaces strung out over the city, suspended between the railway line and distant pink mine dumps.
A hill of solidified crushed quartz, built up from the residue of gold-mining operations; dump. Also attributive.
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mine dance, noun phrasen. phr.mines, plural nounpl. n.
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