mullock
/ˈmʌlək
/noun [mass noun] dialect
1Worthless material; rubbish.At left centre I can just be seen in a yellow helmet dumping a barrow load of mullock over the side of the heap.
1.1Australian /NZ Rock which contains no gold or from which gold has been extracted.Rem and I had been exploring this beach and the one south, all the while observing a great many wondrous things, including holes and mullock heaps left by historical gold miners....
- On the surface the miners' labours are marked by constructed mountains of mullock; hillsides stripped bare of trees for props and fuel; and streams diverted and often polluted by the wastes from sedimentation and flotation processing.
- During the years of the gold rush in Australia the Chinese were well known for industriously working their way through the mullock heaps (the heaps where the other miners discarded the material they had scoured for gold).
1.2Australian /NZ Worthless information; nonsense.A sudden drop in number might suggest the loss of a batch of posts which could possibly include something of value; as it is, one can safely assume that the items removed were just mullock and spilth.
Phrases
poke mullock at
Origin
Late Middle English: diminutive of earlier mul 'dust, rubbish', from Middle Dutch.