GineersNow Engineering Magazine November 2016 Issue No 009

10 SURPRISING
TRIVIA ABOUT THE
MINING INDUSTRY
When people hear about the mining industry, the first thing that comes into their mind is, yes, you’ve guessed it—gold and
diamonds. Well, you’re not wrong, but it isn’t simply limited there. Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals, and other
useful geological materials from the earth that our world uses for different applications. It’s a profession that has helped
and given work to countless countries for hundreds of years. The mining industry has a rich history, and there are a lot of
aspects about the mining indu`stry you might not yet be familiar with.
#1
Mining has been proven to have occurred as far
back as 4000 B.C.
#2
The oldest mine in the world, “Lion’s Cave”
is located in Swaziland. By using radiocarbon
dating, they were able to find the age of this
iron oxide mine—43,000 years old.
#3
The gold mines of Nubia were not just the
largest in ancient Egypt, it was also the most
extensive.
Gold mine to expand in Nubian Desert
Photo by Blogspot
#4
The Romans were the ones to develop mining
on a larger scale. They devised methods such as
hydraulic mining and hushing.
#5
The first record of the usage of black powder
for mining was in the year 1627, in what is
now Banská Štiavnica, Slovakia. Back then, the
location was called Selmecbánya, Kingdom of
Hungary.
#6
The first academy for mining was established in
in Selmecbánya, Kingdom of Hungary in 1762.
#7
Along the Lake Superior are, there are several
early copper mines that are estimated to be
around 5000 years old.
3-ton copper nugget found in Lake Superior
Photo by Blogspot
#8
Did you know that Spanish gold was not
necessarily from Spain? There was a great deal
of gold and silver that came from the colonial
Americas and then was brought to Spain.
#9
The most commonly used form of excavation
type in mining today is surface mining.
#10
The Bingham Canyon Mine located in Utah is
the largest man-made excavation in the world.
Its pit is greater than 0.75 mile in depth and
it is 2.5 miles in width. It was turned into a
National Landmark in 1966.
Bingham Canyon Mine
Photo by Wikimedia
NOVEMBER 2016
Mining Engineering and Its Importance
55