washing

I then took a piece of dry stone, ground it fine in a mortar, and placed the powder in water, the sand particles sunk rapidly to the bottom, while the clay remained suspended, and by several washings and decantings the sand and clay could be approximately separated […]

[…] Hazel telling about how she liked a good woodpile, especially when she used to take in washing to earn a little extra. She needed a goodly pile to fuel her washtubs.

The washings have a higher concentration of metal

the gold-washings, or silver-washings

a washing of silver