List of words “used” in the Cornish tin mines

A B C D E F G H I-K L M N-O P-Q R S T U-V W-Z

 N & O words Meaning

Name Tag

A metal or plastic disc or rectangle with a miner’s name and number that is hung on the on-shift board whenever the person is down the mine.

Nitroglycerine

 A highly unstable compound made by treating Glycerine with Nitric acid. It decomposes explosively by heat or shock.

Nitrous fumes

 The byproducts of nitroglcerine and other nitrate based explosives after decomposition. The main ones being Nitrous oxide, Nitric oxide and Nitrogen dioxide, the latter two being toxic.

Nuggy

 Another term for a Knocker

Ochre

 Mineral rich in iron oxide, hence the red colour.

Oil Bottle

A device situated on a compressed air hose between the supply and the rock drill, or other piece of machinery, which supplies a thin jet of oil continuously into the air hose thus ensuring the machine has a constant supply of oil on its moving parts.
Oil Bottle Hose – The short hose with suitable connections acting as the link between the oil bottle and the rock drill.
oilers a pair of over trousers or waterproofs

Onsetter

 Nationally the more commonly used term for a person in charge of a cage for tasks in the shaft. The locally used term was Cageman.
Opencast The extraction of minerals from surface working downwards in an open pit.  Commonly called surface workings locally.
Ore

Metal bearing minerals extracted for their commercial value
Ore Body – The lode, stockwork, lens or other deposit which can be             commercially exploited for its metal bearing minerals.
Ore Chute – The controlled opening at the bottom of an ore pass system,     whether into wagons, a crusher or skip loading facility.
Ore Pass – The hole connecting levels together to ore transport or loading systems into which ore is dumped, stored and discharged. 
ore sample a random sample of lode bearing rock.

Outcrop

 Place on the surface where a lode is exposed

Over-run

When a train of wagons fails to stop at the right point for tipping and needs to be pushed back

Overwind

 When a cage or skip in a shaft is pulled up into the detaching gear of a shaft headframe.
oxo Note chalked or scrawled on machinery or equipment to indicate it is faulty or out of use.

Peter Hughes has supplied words of this colour
D.C.Williams at Exeter University, better known as Gus. has supplied words of this colour
The remainder are supplied by Michael Davis