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
It depends a bit on how long ago “back in the day” is. For the mines I’ve visited here in Norway that’s around the 1600s. At that time, the mining was mostly accomplished with heat (wood fires) to make the rock brittle and manual picks or chisels. Using fires to heat the rock and then flash-cooling with water can also break rock faces apart. As chemistry advanced and explosives became cheaper and safer, they gradually took over.
Mining was a craft and geological experts were used to survey the mine and identify where to dig in what direction. Norway largely imported these experts from Germany and France, and you can still see some evidence of this foreign influence in for instance street names in [Røros](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%B8ros).
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