noun
- Plural of gangue; worthless rock or mineral matter that surrounds or is mixed with ore in a mine.
Usage: technical; mining industry term
Examples
- The miners had to remove tons of gangues before reaching the valuable ore deposits.
- Gangues composed of quartz and feldspar were separated from the copper ore.
- Processing the ore required crushing and washing to eliminate the gangues.
- The gangues were discarded as they had no commercial value.
- Geologists examined the gangues to understand the geological history of the deposit.