Gangue Definition & Meaning

Origin of Gangue

French from German Gang lode from Middle High German ganc from Old High German gang a going

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
Borrowing from French gangue

From Wiktionary

The lodes are most frequently of great size, containing huge masses of galena, and so little gangue that the ore can very easily be dressed to 83 or 84%.
In some cases the iron-bearing mineral, such as magnetite or haematite, can be separated from the gangue after crushing, either mechanically or magnetically, so that the part thus enriched or " concentrated " alone need be smelted.
The duty of the limestone (CaCO 3) is to furnish enough lime to form with the gangue of the ore and the ash of the fuel a lime silicate or slag of such a composition (1) that it will melt at the temperature which it reaches at about level A, of fig.
Of the impurities of the ore the wolframite (tungstate of iron and manganese) is the most troublesome, because on account of its high specific gravity it cannot be washed away as gangue.
The dry process is more frequently practised, for the easy reducibility of the oxide and sulphide, together with the low melting-point of the metal, renders it possible to effect a ready separation of the metal from the gangue and impurities.

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