Ill 
Parcel. —A quantity of ore ready for sale. 
Parrot. —A form of cannel or gas coal that burns with a crackly noise. 
Pass. —A small passage left between the deads in a mine. 
Pay Dirt. — Gravel containing gold. 
Peachy. — Vein stone of a greenish colour due to chlorite. 
Petrology. — The science of rocks. 
Petering. — The pinching out of a vein. 
Petroleum or Rock Oil. — A liquid mineral pitch or bitumen which oozes 
out and forms certain strata-like oil. 
Phosphatic. — A compound containing phosphoric acid. 
Physical. —Appertaining to nature. 
Pick. — A mining tool. To sort out the best ore. 
Pile. — A stack of ore or stones. A prop of timber. A fortune. 
Pillar. — Part of the lode or seam left standing as a support. 
Pinch. — A lode is said to pinch when it becomes small. 
Pipe. — A narrow portion of rich ore running down the lode. 
Pipe Clay. — An impure form of kaolin. 
Piping. —Washing with a hose. 
Placer. —Gold diggings or hydraulic mine. 
Plaster op Paris. — Burnt sulphate of lime or gypsum. 
Plastic. —Capable of being moulded. 
Plat. — A place to receive ore, or rough bridge. 
Plate. — Thin shales between limestones. 
Plumbago. —Graphite or black lead. 
Plumbiferous. — Containing lead. 
Plunger. — The end of the pump rod which dips into the water. 
Plutonic. — Applied to igneous rocks which were consolidated under great 
pressure at some depth beneath the surface. 
Pocket. — A rich deposit of mineral, but not a vein. 
Poppet Heads. — The top of a derick where the pulley is situated. 
Porphyry. — A rock containing imbedded crystals distinct from the matrix. 
Potstone. —A coarse granular variety of steatite or soap stones. 
Powdered Ore. —Fine ore disseminated through a lode. 
Pricker. — A thin rod for keeping an opening for the fuse through “ tamp¬ 
ing” 
Primary. — The oldest senes of rocks containing organic remains; palaeozoic. 
Product. —Per cent, of metal in ore. 
Prospector. — A searcher for metals or minerals. 
Pryan. — Clay. 
Pseudomorph.—C asts of crystals composed of a different mineral. 
Puddle. —To mix clay and water. 
Pulverise. —To grind fine. 
Pumice. — A cellular volcanic rock which is so light that it will float on water. 
Purser. — The secretary or cashier on a mine. 
Pyrites. —Yellow sulphide of iron; inundic. 
Quarry. —A large open working with a roadway into it. 
Quarry Lode. — A lode much broken by joints. 
