The collective voids, caverns, or abandoned stopes remaining in a mine once the valuable ore has been removed. Historically used by Cornish miners, the term describes the dangerous, unsupported gaps that must either be backfilled or sealed off to prevent rockfalls.
Heard on the job
The old timers chased the copper vein all the way to the surface, leaving massive gunnies that we've to map around.
Also heard as
- gunnie
Do not mix it up with
- Gunnie: Gunnie is the singular form of the same term.