DCHP-3

lay ((n.))

Placer Mining, Hist.
DCHP-1 (pre-1967)

Entry from the DCHP-1 (pre-1967)

This entry may contain outdated or offensive information, terms, and examples.

1n.

a lease to work a gold claim for a share, usually half, of the proceeds.

Quotations

1898
Some of these lay holders say they have not made wages, and many of them claim they have not even made expenses.
1926
Ole had been offered a lay on a supposedly rich piece of ground, and he was violently agitated at the prospect of acquiring it. "Working on lay" was the Yukoner's manner of saying working on a percentage.
1958
He began by acquiring half of Thirty Eldorado for a few groceries. He made no move to mine it, but instead let a section of it out on lease or "lay," as it was called, to Charley Myers and Dick Butler, receiving from them a percentage of the take.
2an.

the actual land covered by such a lease.

Quotations

1899
The number of applications quite exceeded the number of lays to be let, and all through the winter the laymen on Bonanza were the envy of their fellows.
2bn.

a mining operation carried out on such a lease.

Quotations

1898
The layman on a Rich Hill claim is rocking out the refused dirt of last year's lay and is making $100 a day.