In video games players are constantly mining ore that just sits on top of the map, where do ores like copper, tin, silver, gold, iron actually come from in real life and how did we find and mine it?

Question

In video games players are constantly mining ore that just sits on top of the map, where do ores like copper, tin, silver, gold, iron actually come from in real life and how did we find and mine it?

In: 1

Answer 1

They are found by prospecting/exploration.

There is several ways to do this, but for large scale operations, it’s usually geologist and surveyor that use their knowledge of geology to figure out where different veins could happen. Then you have technology like airborne electromagnetic detection, and other system to detect clues that could indicate where an higher concentration of a certain mineral could be found.

Then when a sufficient concentration is found, mining engineer will have to develop a plan to extract it, either surface of depth mining. They will have to figure out the nature of the soil, depth of the vein, the properties of the ore, etc. The ground is then extracted and brought to a place where the mineral is extraction from the ore through different method (physical, chemical, etc). You never really found pure mineral in nature, it’s usually either mixed with the surrounding soil or chemical bounded with other elements.