mine for

mine for

1. To extract a specific material, such as ore or minerals, through digging and boring. They used to mine for silver on this part of the mountain. We've been mining for coal in this region for centuries—if that ends now, our entire community will be destroyed.
2. To dig and bore into a particular thing or location in order to extract a specific material, such as ore or minerals. In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "mine" and "for." They've been mining these hills for diamonds for so long that the whole area is stripped bare. We're going to mine this section of the mountain for a rare metal used in electronics.
3. To obtain a lot of very detailed information from someone or something. In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "mine" and "for." This book has been a great resource to mine for facts about the Civil War. My neighbor used to be an astronaut, so I've been mining him for information to use in my science project about the solar system.
See also: mine
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

mine for something

to dig into the ground in search of a mineral, a metal, or an ore. The prospectors ended up mining for coal. What are they mining for in those hills?
See also: mine
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • burg
  • a one-horse town
  • one-horse town
  • extreme
  • boring in the extreme
  • live a dog's life
  • lead a dog's life
  • boring, silly, etc. in the extreme
  • at that
References in periodicals archive
Severe fires could shut down the mine for weeks causing serious injuries to workers who have inhaled fumes and smoke.
3 Nifty dash keeps mine humming: Steve Sullivan knows how to slash downtime
If successful, Barrick plans to start production in 2009 and operate the open-pit mine for 21 years.
Big chill: a gold mine might make engineering history in Chile and Argentina, but protestors are out to block it
When you mine for gold, you also extract pyrite, or fool's gold, says Bob Ekey of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, a conservation group in Montana.
Mountain of gold: will mining this mineral destroy Yellowstone, the 'crown jewel' of the national parks?
For every dollar donated, a single bat is assured a safe place to sleep in the mine for the winter.
A mine of their own; groups work to give bats a place to hang out
In this case, two ponds were required because there wasn't enough level land near the mine for a single facility (the wetland's size is determined by the amount of flow from the mine).
A solution to mine drainage?