The Dolaucothi Gold Mines, also known as the Ogofau Gold Mine, are ancient Roman surface and underground mines located in the valley of the River Cothi, near Pumsaint, Carmarthenshire, Wales. The gold mines are located within the Dolaucothi Estate, which is owned by the National Trust.
Roman workings at Dolaucothi mine
Romano-British jewellery from Dolaucothi in the British Museum
The aqueducts at Dolaucothi
Small tank (A) near north opencast
Mining is the extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agricultural processes, or feasibly created artificially in a laboratory or factory. Ores recovered by mining include metals, coal, oil shale, gemstones, limestone, chalk, dimension stone, rock salt, potash, gravel, and clay. The ore must be a rock or mineral that contains valuable constituent, can be extracted or mined and sold for profit. Mining in a wider sense includes extraction of any non-renewable resource such as petroleum, natural gas, or even water.
Mining of sulfur from a deposit at the edge of Ijen's crater lake, Indonesia.
Malachite
Agricola, author of De Re Metallica
Gallery, 12th to 13th century, Germany