Exploitation of Mineral and Rock Raw Materials

Abstract

Mineral and rock deposits are unevenly distributed throughout the world and throughout most countries where they occur. Thus trade or exchange began early in human society to overcome this uneven distribution. Those who exploited rock and mineral deposits in the ancient world were limited to extracting material from surface or very near-surface deposits. The nature and quality of an exploitable deposit reside ultimately in the kind, amount, and properties of the minerals and rocks that comprise the deposit as well as the ease with which the desired material can be extracted. There is only a limited primary literature on recovery/extraction of mineral raw materials in antiquity. Wilsdorf (1952) and Weisgerber (1976) have studied Corinthian clay tablets and vases for mining and metallurgical displays. Apparently, only clay mining and ore smelting are depicted.