salt the mine

present singular third person salts the mine · participle present salting the mine · participle past salted the mine · past salted the mine

1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see salt, the, mine.

   He then discovered that Lovell had salted the mine with ore from the Little Pittsburgh.

   1989, John Burke, The Legend of Baby Doe: The Life and Times of the Silver Queen of the West, U of Nebraska Press, →ISBN, page 53

   3 more examples

   They then salted the “mine” with these gems, which the first expert dug up and brought to San Francisco.

   2000, Robert Greene, The 48 Laws of Power, Penguin Books, page 159

   Smith had merely dug a shaft, salted the mine with a good grade ore, in order to lure Jeremiah into purchasing.

   2014, Harriet Hudson, The Wooing of Katie May, Hachette UK, →ISBN

   "Ferraz then salted the mine with the quality diamonds from Angola," Kubu continued, "making it look as though De Beers had made a mistake."

   2010, Michael Stanley, A Carrion Death, Hachette UK, →ISBN

2. broadlyTo set up a confidence trick; to plant false evidence of the value of something.

   "Yes. I thought it would be a shrewd move to salt the mine." I didn't get this. She seemed to me an aunt who was talking in riddles.

   1954, P.G. Wodehouse, Bertie Wooster Sees It Through, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 86

   3 more examples

   “Salting the mine. We'll salt the mine.” Egan still didn't seem to understand. “You college boys, all that training and you can't see the nose on your face. We'll plant a body.”

   2005, Paul Lindsay, The Big Scam: A Novel of the FBI, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 275

   Historians are duty bound never to salt the mine of history by the creation of ersatz facts introduced to fulfill their preconceived ideas.

   2006, Steven T. Katz, Alan Rosen, Elie Wiesel, Obliged by Memory: Literature, Religion, Ethics, Syracuse University Press, →ISBN, page 64

   His rationale was the same: these were amenities that a salesperson needed to salt the mine and make the right impression on customers.

   2007, Ira Nottonson, Forming a Partnership : And Making It Work, Entrepreneur Press, →ISBN, page 4