Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Tributer \Trib"u*ter\, n. (Mining)
   One who works for a certain portion of the ore, or its value.
   [Eng.]

   Note: Tributers generally work in gangs, and have a limited
         portion of a lode set them, called a tribute pitch,
         beyond which they are not permitted to work, and for
         which they receive a certain portion of the ore, or so
         much per pound, as agreed upon, of the value of what
         they raise. --Weale.