A worn or eroded section of a riverbank or stream channel where heavy, resistant minerals and ore fragments accumulate after being washed down from higher elevations. Prospectors examine these eroded deposits to trace the source of the minerals back up the watershed to locate the mother lode or original vein.
Heard on the job
We panned a good amount of color from the fret at the bend of the creek, suggesting the main quartz vein is somewhere on the ridge above us.