Usually in pl. See quot. 1891, and cf. stream tin s.v. TIN sb. 1 b.
1855. J. R. Leifchild, Cornwall Mines, 200. There is no regularity in these tin-streams, as they are of different breadths, though seldom less than a fathom.
1891. Labour Commission Gloss., A tin streams (not stream) deals either with alluvial deposits or with the refuse of the mines … and separates what is valuable … by washing processes.
So Tin-streamer, one who obtains tin from a deposit of sand or gravel by washing; Tinstreaming, the washing of tin from such a deposit.
1839. De la Beche, Rep. Geol. Cornw., etc., xii. 405. Whole ground, as the tin-streamers term the stanniferous gravel and superincumbent beds which have not been previously disturbed by the old men. Ibid., xv. 545. Tin-streaming seems to have been conducted in Pryce’s time much as it is at present.
1881. H. H. Drake, in Athenæum, 1 Oct., 432/3. Tin-streaming was a wealthy and influential industry, that enriched landlords, tenants, and ‘bounders,’ who … set Acts at defiance.
1899. Baring-Gould, Bk. of West, II. 83. This rubble has been turned over and over by tin-streamers.
