[f. STOPE sb.2] trans. To cut (mineral ground) in stopes; to excavate horizontally, layer after layer; to extract (ore) by this process. Also with out. Also absol.
1778. W. Pryce, Min. Cornub., 142. They found it most adviseable to sink Shafts down upon the Lode, to cut it at some depth, and then to Drive and Stope east and west upon the course of the Lode.
1886. Encycl. Brit., XXI. 230/2. The salt is stoped out in longitudinal and transverse galleries, and large vaulted chambers, supported by massive pillars.
1887. Times (weekly ed.), 9 Dec., 1/7. Many thousands of tons of stone, richly laden with gold, are ready to be stoped.
1896. Méliot, Eng.-Fr. Dict. Terms Finance, etc. 226. Stope,… to break and extract the ore. Ibid., Stoping,… breaking out the payable ore.
