How did mining work back in the day? Did people just picaxe long tunnels into the rock hoping they’ll find something useful?
In: Technology
Different deposits would have been mined differently. Shallow stuff, close to surface can be mined by basically digging a big hole in the ground. There are some places where artisanal mining is still practiced along these lines, with a small group doing exactly this.
As you get deeper, you need to start being more selective, so people start tunnelling along specific lines to hit ore bodies or seams. This has always needed some care, skill, and experience. Usually one would not just randomly dig a long tunnel in the hopes of hitting something useful though: you can start with stuff near the surface and then tunnel in deeper, or start with a cave and enlarge it.
Even today, opening up a deep prospect is expensive and difficult, so those efforts are focused as much as possible. In the past, tunnelling through hard rock was slow, so it would also only happen if there is a good likelihood that there is going to be something worthwhile in exchange.
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