Valuable mineral (3)

I believe the answer is:

ore

'valuable mineral' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

This is the entire clue.

(Other definitions for ore that I've seen before include "It's mined for minerals" , "Mineral deposit" , "Foreign currency" , "Material for smelting" , "it could be gold" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times and the LA Times.

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