From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishlodelode /ləʊd $ loʊd/ noun [countable usually singular] TIan amount of ore (=metal in its natural form) found in a layer between stones → mother lode
Examples from the Corpus
lode• A simple riffle system can speed up the processing of the lode All this has led to some skill rubbing off.• Outcropping on the surface, the lodes were relatively easy to find and trace.• But in November last year, the lodes became exhausted.• He said that in the old days men came here probing for gold trying to find their lode.Origin lode Old English lad “course, support” 