Definition of "gangue" [gangue]

• Worthless rock or other material in which valuable minerals are found. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The gossan is likely to resist erosion and to be conspicuous at the surface, -- though this depends largely on the relative resistance of the wall rocks, and on whether the gangue is a hard material like quartz, or some material which weathers more rapidly like limestone or igneous rock."
• "Hence the elimination of the worthless "gangue" by concentration of the iron particles associated with it, seemed to be the only solution of the problem."
• "La couleur est d'un rouge violet lie de vin, tirant sur celle de fleurs de pêche, lorsqu'elle est peu intense; on le trouve quelquefois en aiguilles divergentes, partant d'une centre commun, et formant de jolies rosettes à la surface de la gangue."