English edit

Etymology edit

From quartz reef +‎ -er.

Noun edit

quartz reefer (plural quartz reefers)

  1. (Australia, obsolete) A person gold miner or prospector working on a quartz reef.
    • 1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 141:
      The strong, earnest quartz reefer, carrying with him a well-filled swag, and enough money to "hold on" and try his luck in a systematic manner - a well-dressed and respectable man.