stope
1
9.9
A stepped hole underground in a mine where miners take metal ore
- noun
- /stoʊp/
- Specialized
:
estopa
- After weeks of preparation, the team finally reached the stope where they would begin their work.
- stope face
Examples
-
A huge diamond driller is at work drilling and blasting in the stope.
Fiction book (1992) -
His light catches a man at the very top of the stope climbing out.
Fiction book (1992) -
The driller from stope number five.
Fiction book (1992) -
A muffled blast comes from the other side of the hangup deep in the stope.
Fiction book (1992) -
The miners carefully descended into the stope to extract the valuable ore.
-
Entering the stope, the workers were greeted by the sounds of drilling and blasting echoing through the tunnels.
How Big
Surface Forms
Etymology
Stope names the underground, 'step-like' hole where miners remove ore. A helpful way to remember it is to think of a step cut into the rock, because a stope is made like a series of steps to reach the minerals.