Van

nounStandard termMining

A specialized shovel used to wash and separate crushed ore by hand.

This traditional piece of mineral processing equipment is a broad, shallow shovel used to test crushed ore. Miners place a sample of crushed rock and water on the blade, then swirl and agitate it to separate the heavy, valuable minerals from the lighter waste rock.

Heard on the job

Grab the van and test this sample from the new face to see if we hit the tin streak.