King James Bible Dictionary

The process of mining is described in Job 28:1-11. Moses speaks of the mineral wealth of Palestine (Deuteronomy 8:9). Job 28:4 is rightly thus rendered in the Revised Version, "He breaketh open a shaft away from where men sojourn; they are forgotten of the foot [that passeth by]; they hang afar from men, they swing to and fro." These words illustrate ancient mining operations.

MINE, adjective called sometimes a pronominal adj. [Latin meus.]

My; belonging to me. It was formerly used before nouns beginning with vowels. 'I kept myself from mine iniquity.' Psalms 18:3. But this use is no longer retained. We now use my before a vowel as well as before an articulation; as my iniquity. In present usage, my always precedes the noun, and mine follows the noun, and usually the verb; as, this is my book; this book is mine; it is called my book; the book is called mine:it is acknowledged to be mine

MINE sometimes supplies the place of a noun. Your sword and mine are different in construction.

MINE, noun

1. A pit or excavation in the earth, from which metallic ores, mineral substances and other fossil bodies are taken by digging. The pits from which stones only are taken, are called quarries.

2. In the military art, a subterraneous canal or passage dug under the wall or rampart of a fortification, where a quantity of power may be lodged for blowing up the works.

3. A rich source of wealth or other good.

MINE, verb intransitive To dig a mine or pit in the earth.

1. To form a subterraneous canal or hole by scratching; to form a burrow or lodge in the earth, as animals; as the mining coney.

2. To practice secret means in injury.

MINE, verb transitive To sap; to undermine; to dig away or otherwise remove the substratum or foundation; hence, to ruin or destroy by slow degrees or secret means.

They mined the walls.

In a metaphorical sense, undermine is generally used.

MI'NE-DIGGER, noun One that digs mines.

MI'NER, noun One that digs for metals and other fossils.

1. One who digs canals or passages under the walls of a fort, etc. Armies have sappers and miners.

MIN'ERAL, noun [Low Latin minera, a matrix or vein of metals, whence mineralia; all from mine.]

A body destitute of organization, and which naturally exists within the earth or at its surface.

Minerals were formerly divided into salts, earths, inflammables and ores; a division which serves for a general distribution, but a more scientific arrangement into classes, orders, genera, species, subspecies and varieties, has been adopted to meet the more precise views of modern mineralogists.

MIN'ERAL, adjective Pertaining to minerals; consisting of fossil substances; as the mineral kingdom.

1. Impregnated with minerals or fossil matter; as mineral waters; a mineral spring.

MIN'ERALIST, noun One versed or employed in minerals.

MINERALIZA'TION, noun [See Mineralize.]

1. The process of forming an ore by combination with another substance; the natural operation of uniting a metallic substance with another.

2. The process of converting into a mineral, as a bone or a plant.

3. The act of impregnating with a mineral, as water.

MIN'ERALIZE, verb transitive [from mineral] In mineralogy, to combine with a metal in forming an ore or mineral. Sulphur mineralizes many of the metals.

1. To convert into a mineral.

In these caverns, the bones are not mineralized.

2. To impregnate with a mineral substance; as, to mineralize water.

MIN'ERALIZED, participle passive Deprived of its usual properties by being combined with another substance or formed into an ore; as, metallic substances are mineralized

1. Converted into a mineral.

2. Impregnated with a mineral.

MIN'ERALIZER, noun A substance which mineralizes another or combines with it in an ore, and thus deprives it of its usual and peculiar properties. Sulphur is one of the most common mineralizers.

MINERALOG'ICAL, adjective [See Mineralogy.] Pertaining to the science of minerals; as a mineralogical table.

MINERALOG'ICALLY, adverb In mineralogy.

MINERAL'OGIST, noun One who is versed in the science of minerals, or one who treats or discourses of the properties of mineral bodies.

MINERAL'OGY, noun [mineral and Gr. discourse.] The science which treats of the properties of mineral substances, and teaches us to characterize, distinguish and class them according to their properties. It comprehends the study or science of all inorganic substances in the earth or on its surface.

See Adamant; Agate; Alabaster; Amethyst; Beryl; Brimstone; Chalcedony; Chalk; Chrysolyte; Chrysoprasus; Copper; Coral; Diamond; Flint; Gold; Iron; Jacinth; Jasper; Lead; Lime; Marble; Nitre; Pitch; Salt; Sapphire; Sardius; Sardonyx; Silver; Slime; Stones, Precious; Tin; Topaz
Adamant; Agate; Alabaster; Amethyst; Beryl; Brimstone; Chalcedony; Chalk; Chrysolyte; Chrysoprasus; Copper; Coral; Diamond; Flint; Gold; Iron; Jacinth; Jasper; Lead; Lime; Marble; Nitre; Pitch; Salt; Sapphire; Sardius; Sardonyx; Silver; Slime; Stones, Precious; Tin; Topaz

A highly-poetical description given by the author of the book of Job of the operations of mining as known in his day is the only record of the kind which we inherit from the ancient Hebrews. (Job 28:1-11) In the Wady Magharah, "the valley of the cave," are still traces of the Egyptian colony of miners who settled there for the purpose of extracting copper from the freestone rocks, and left their hieroglyphic inscriptions upon the face of the cliff. The ancient furnaces are still to be seen, and on the coast of the Red Sea are found the piers and wharves whence the miners shipped their metal in the harbor of Abu Zelimeh. Three methods were employed for refining gold and silver: (1) by exposing the fused metal to a current of air; (2) by keeping the alloy in a state of fusion and throwing nitre upon it; and (3) by mixing the alloy with lead, exposing the whole to fusion upon a vessel of bone-ashes or earth, and blowing upon it with bellows or other blast. There seems to be reference to the latter in (Psalms 12:6; Jeremiah 6:28-30; Ezekiel 22:18-22) The chief supply of silver in the ancient world appears to have been brought from Spain. The Egyptians evidently possessed the art of working bronze in great perfection at a very early time, and much of the knowledge of metals which the Isr'lites had must have been acquired during their residence among them. Of tin there appears to have been no trace in Palestine. The hills of Palestine are rich in iron, and the mines are still worked there, though in a very simple, rude manner.