More material soil to have a position by river (9)

I believe the answer is:

earthlier

'more material' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'soil to have a position by river' is the wordplay.
'soil' becomes 'earth' (synonyms).
'to have' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'a position' becomes 'lie' (lie can mean to place or position).
'by' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'river' becomes 'r' (abbreviation for river).
'earth'+'lie'+'r'='EARTHLIER'

(Another definition for earthlier that I've seen is " more material".)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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