Mines of the World Trivia Quiz

Answer: Emeralds

Mining for emeralds has gone on in Colombia since before the arrival of Europeans, possibly as far back as 500AD. Muzo is the center and most productive region for emerald mining in Colombia. Ancient cultures believed that emeralds were the tears of the mythological being Fura, the first woman on earth.

The mining of emeralds became the center of the "Green War", a civil conflict which originated in the 1950s and was still going on 50 years later.

Answer: Salt

Salt mining has always been one of the most dangerous of occupations. The intimate contact with vast amounts of salt caused severe dehydration quickly. The Goderich Mine is one of the very largest geographically, as well as one of the greatest producers of salt.

This mine is over 1,700 ft. (530m) below ground and extends almost three miles under Lake Huron. First discovered in 1866, this salt deposit was not extensively mined mining until the late 1950s.

Answer: Opals

The underground mine and city of Coober Pedy derive their names from the Aboriginal term 'kupa-piti' which translates to "white man's hole". Coober Pedy is the largest opal mining area in the world. There are over one quarter of a million mine shafts around Coober Pedy.

Modern treasure hunters dig random holes and then lower themselves into the 20 meter shaft. Common dangers include claustrophobia, breaking ropes, and accidental explosions. Another major difference in opal mining as opposed to other types of mining is the large population of miners who work alone.

This is REAL treasure hunting.

Answer: San Jose Mine

One of the most publicized mining accidents was the entrapment of 33 Chilean miners in the San Jose Mine in 2010. Poor maintenance, a previous earthquake, and numerous safety code violations played a part in this incident. It should be noted that even when all precautions are taken, mining is an incredibly dangerous occupation.

The San Jose Mine started operation in 1889, and was used to obtain both gold and copper. One of the more unusual aspects of this old mine was that it did not have a vertical mine shaft as most mines do.

Instead, it had a sloping runway in a spiral pattern. This incident may have made the world more knowledgeable about the difficulty of underground rescue of any kind.

Answer: True

At the Benxihu Colliery, on April 26,1942, over 1,500 miners were killed in a gas and coal-dust explosion. Because WWII was in full swing, it did not receive the media attention that it would otherwise have done. Coal mining is an extremely dangerous profession in all countries. China has improved its rules and regulations governing coal mining but in spite of this, according to official figures, over 3,000 miners died in mine accidents in 2008. Until the late 19th century, coal mining was usually done with a pick and shovel.

Answer: Ruby

Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been known for its high quality rubies mined in the Mogok region of the country. Many scholars believe that mining has gone on in this area for over 6,000 years. This is rough terrain, that is possibly populated simply for the riches that can be obtained from ruby mining.

There are mines dotting this area in town and up into the hills. They range from simple open pits, to single deep shafts, to large tunnels blasted out the marble hillsides.

Answer: Haematite

Deposits at Ngwenya are known to have been worked at least 42,000 years BP (Before Present) for the extraction of red haematite and specularite (sparkling ores). The peoples concerned belonged to the Middle Stone Age, which flourished in southern Africa for about 100,000 years, until almost 20,000 years ago.

The red ochre was also used by the ancestors of the present San (Bushman), for their rock paintings, of which there are many in Swaziland. The Swazi names of these pigments "libovu" (red ochre) and "ludumane" (sparkling ochre) indicate that exploitation of these minerals extended into historical times.

Answer: Copper

Although gold and silver are also found at the Escondida Mine in Chile, they only occur in very small quantities and the mine is better known for its high quality copper. This region of the Atacama desert is thought to have one of the largest reserves of raw copper on the planet.

Answer: Potash

The Boulby Mine is located near the boroughs of Redcar and Cleveland, in England. It is one of the largest potash mines in the world. As often happens in the field of mining, potash was discovered while drilling for oil was taking place in 1939. This is an extremely deep mine that also contains the Boubly Underground Laboratory, as well as the ZEPLIN-III dark matter detector.

Answer: False

Tanzanite is found only in Tanzania. All mines are found within an eight sq. mile area at the foot of Mt. Kilamanjaro. Originally, tanzanite could be collected, laying on the surface. This quickly gave way to pit mining, which was then replaced by tunnels which can extend hundreds of feet underground. These are small slender mines, when compared to the mines used for other resources.