In mining law. An open excavation where the works are visible at the surface; a place or pit where stone, slate, marble, etc., is dug out or separated from a mass of rock. Bainb. Mines, 2. See Marvel v. Merritt. 116 U. S. 11, 6 Sup. Ct. 207. 29 L Ed. 550; Murray v. Allred, 100 Tenn. 100, 43 S. W. 355, 39 L It. A. 249, 66 Am. St. Rep. 740; Ruttledge v. Kress, 17 Pa. Super. Ct. 495.