Mining

“The desire of gold is not for gold. It is for the means of freedom and benefit.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

The extraction of stone, metal, and minerals from the earth gave civilisations the raw materials to build, to arm, and to adorn. Mining transformed the landscape and, in time, transformed the balance of power between nations.

Unlocks

• Improvements: Mine, Lumber Camp

Historical Background

The earliest mines date to the Neolithic period, around 4,000 BCE, when humans dug into hillsides to extract flint for tools and weapons. The mines at Grimes Graves in Norfolk, England, and the flint mines of Spiennes in Belgium reveal surprisingly sophisticated operations with shafts, galleries, and ventilation systems thousands of years old.

The transition from stone to metal — first copper, then tin and the revolutionary alloy of bronze — drove mining to new depths and scales. Ancient Egyptians mined gold and copper in the Eastern Desert and the Sinai Peninsula, while the silver mines of Laurion funded Athens’ golden age and its fleet at Salamis. Mining has always been dangerous, gruelling work, but the wealth it produces has shaped the rise and fall of civilisations from antiquity to the present day.