DCHP-1 Online
pay dirt † Placer Mining 
1 gold-bearing gravel.
See also: pay (def. 3) pay gravel paystreak poor man's gold
- 1863 The "Gumboots" or Welsh Company, struck the pay-dirt in their new shaft and took out twenty-four ounces in about three hours, in coarse gold.
- 1881 The pay dirt, or gold bearing gravel, varies from eight inches to four feet in depth.
- 1966 . . . fire swept Barkerville down to the pay dirt. . . .
2 deposits of any kind rich enough to merit mining.
- 1953 Biggest event at Uranium City and environs since Gunner Gold struck pay-dirt has been the organization of the stabilized mining camps by Mine-Mill.
- 1957 Red dust -- "pay dirt"--covers every window sill.
- 1863 The "Gumboots" or Welsh Company, struck the pay-dirt in their new shaft and took out twenty-four ounces in about three hours, in coarse gold.