stopes

The places where the men are taking out the ore are called "stopes," and to reach them we have to crawl and creep through all sorts of winding passages, now through a "manhole," and now down a long ladder which descends into black depths.

The Western United States A Geographical Reader

They’d mine the ore, creating rooms called stopes, and send the ore down the raises into cars waiting on the rails below here in the drift.

Vermilion Drift William Kent Krueger 2010

For three hours we wandered up and down and in and out of huge unseen caves, now and then crawling up or down three or four hundred foot "stopes" on hands and knees, by ladders, stone steps, or toe-holes in the rock.

Tramping Through Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras — Being the Random Notes of an Incurable Vagabond Harry Alverson Franck 1921

He stopes at a scrape (paw mark) and starts to investigate when I pull the trigger!

Field & Stream's Best Hunting Story Contest: Week Three! 2009

He stopes at a scrape (paw mark) and starts to investigate when I pull the trigger!

Field & Stream's Best Hunting Story Contest: Week Three! 2009

Fountains that should have been sparkling in the sun stood dry and empty; reflecting pools that once held water had been carefully filled with patterns of colored sand instead; tiny bridges arched over dry stopes instead of over trickling streams.

Tran Siberian Michael J. Solender 2010

Hell, in the old days, because of the ungodly noise in the stopes, most of the miners were hard of hearing.

Vermilion Drift William Kent Krueger 2010

In the lower right-hand corner was a legend that contained the scale and explained the markings on the map: stopes, raises, drifts, shafts, drill holes.

Vermilion Drift William Kent Krueger 2010

Sapa the rescue workers were digging through tons of rock in an effort to reach the stopes area, about 1400m underground, where the men were trapped.

ANC Daily News Briefing 1999

It is especially scary if you are working in the stopes.

ANC Daily News Briefing 1999