A friend is an expert in mine development via the use of computer technology. He spent several years working for a company which developed software designed to make the extraction of ore as efficient as possible. His software collected data by geologists and turned it into a three dimensional image concerning the most probable formation of the ore body, allowing the mining engineers to more exactly plan the best access to the ore. I do not fathom how he does his electronic wizardry but understand he is highly treasured by mining executives. Trevor informs us that ore extraction is in its infancy where technology is concerned, but from the viewpoint of a social historian, I do know that mining is as old as mankind and has an effect on everything we do.
Antiquarian research has revealed my relatives were mining copper in Sweden, probably Falun, in the middle 1600s. From there they moved to Hoganess in Sweden and its coal deposits. Eventually they emigrated to America in the middle 1800s and the coalmines of Pennsylvania; then onto the rich iron mines of Minnesota. In retrospect, it seems obvious that as mines became less productive, they emigrated to better opportunities. Family myth states they did not have enough income to survive in Pennsylvania and illegally sneaked out one night on a muffled horse cart because Grandpa Emberg owed the ‘company store’ more than he could ever hope to repay. This ‘night time migration’ was not an unusual occurrence. Thousands of workers followed the mines and when the ore bodies were exhausted, emigrated to new workings, new jobs, new dangers and frequently new countries.
With this historical information, comes the inevitable question, ‘Will there always be mines?’ Today, company executives enticingly say. ‘Yes, mining is forever’. For example, English/Welsh miners were lured to the Victorian gold fields in the early 1850s. The Chinese and others followed in their thousands. Then the gold gave out as all ore bodies do. The ultimate collapse of all mines is a given: all mines, by definition, will fail. Today, ancient myth continues but with a slightly different twist: mining is now given a political spin by its Captains and is termed ‘sustainable’. This is not gross exaggeration, it is mischevious and devious. It is also simply not true. Yes, mining is forever. No, mining is not sustainable. A paradox? Not really.
Also extrapolated from my research, was that my wife Joan’s Norwegian kin were possibly miners in the Bergen/Oslo area and when the mines were exhausted, became involved in the shipping trade during the 18th century. Her forebears then moved to Bremen and Hamburg. Origins research will discover, not surprisingly, a high number of all migrants were actively involved in mining. Since people first walked the earth, mining has been an intimate and crucial aspect of human existence and will not change in quantity.
No jobs in the world are as numerous as those in agriculture. Not far behind are those held in the mining industry. For example, from the USA Census Statistics and US Geological Surveys of 2010, we know that in the US alone, 656,000 people are employed in mining. In South Africa, 500,000; in China a staggering 5,600,000 people are employed in mining. These three nations hire almost seven million workers! The number of mines in the USA alone is almost 15,000. It is preposterous to conclude that somehow, humankind can exist without mining. We cannot.
The reader is reminded this is not a scientific treatise; it is an essay. Reasonable extrapolations of data have been made. For instance, the Stone Age lasted approximately 3.5 million years and was followed by a period of metalworking for approximately two to three thousand years. Exact dates are scientifically impossible to determine. Depending on the sophistication of an area, mines were ‘mushroom-like’ because they quickly appeared as human needs became increasingly complex and, ultimately, industrial. Mines exist and existed in all regions, empires and cultures and in all historical periods.
When visiting a Cornish mine in England some years ago the short and powerful looking guide proudly told us that his people used to mine tin and silver, ‘Out there’, he said as he pointed to the ocean, ‘one mile under the sea.’ Today, estimates of the total number of miners in the world, whether hard rock, soft rock, or open pit is impossible to estimate.
By way of further example, Australian aborigines mined ochre and other rock materials at least 40,000 years ago. Evidence indicates mining occurred 100,000 plus years ago in Africa. Welsh men, relatively ‘new-comers’ to mining, were digging for ferrous metals over 4,000 years ago. The mining towns of CwmYstwyth (the very centre of Wales) and Llanymynech (on the banks of the lovely river Vrnwyy) leap to my mind! (having had to memorise the towns because of a Welsh professor). The digging tools first employed were probably broken rocks and bones for the Aboriginals, whereas, for Welsh miners, deer and elk antlers were used.
In addition, remnants of flint mines have recently been discovered 900 miles north of Adelaide, South Australia. It is estimated that these mines are 31-41,000 years old. Their artifacts may still be found in abundance in deep underground adits and stopes.
Mining, per se, is neither good nor bad; it is amoral. PEOPLE make mining moral or immoral and/or both. AND, mines, miners and mining companies will NOT disappear; nor should they. This industry will become larger, more complex, more technological and more powerful in future generations. The possibility of even mining the planets or meteors is no longer fantasy. Like all human endeavours, this industry should be used for the benefit of all nations.
*Buck Emberg holds a PhD in Tasmanian History
