People have dug mines since prehistoric times. Hundreds of thousands of years ago, during the Stone Age, people dug in the ground to search for flint. Flint is a stone that can be used to make weapons and tools.
The first metal to be mined was copper. The oldest copper mines are in Egypt. Ancient Egyptians dug these mines about 7,000 years ago. By 5,000 years ago, people were also mining tin and combining it with copper to create bronze. This metal was important for making sturdy, long-lasting weapons and tools. Later peoples mined iron to make even stronger tools and weapons.
The ancient Greeks mined (quarried) marble for many beautiful buildings. The ancient Romans had huge mining operations, many in lands that they conquered. During the 1400s and 1500s the Spanish grew rich by mining gold and silver in the Americas.
The first mining operations in what is now the United States started in the 1700s. Meanwhile, in Great Britain coal mining helped to start the Industrial Revolution. This was a time when people began to use machines to make goods. Coal was an important source of power for operating the machines.
In the 1900s many countries worked to make mining safer for miners. Today many people are concerned about pollution and other damage to the environment caused by mining.
