History of Mining & Tunneling
In order to understand the intricacies and significance of mining and tunneling today, it is helpful to have some understanding of the history behind these two interconnected processes.
Human beings have been drilling into the earth since the beginning of time. Near the dawn of written history, between 2550 – 2315 BC, the Egyptians were already using diamond-drilling tools in their construction. By 1974 in the U.S., drilling depths of 9,558 meters had been reached in Oklahoma. Currently, the deepest drilled area in the world is the Kola Super Deep Hole in Russia, which has a depth of 12.26 kilometers.
Drilling, Mining, and Tunneling require specific equipment, which is continuously updated and improved. In turn, these technologically advanced tools facilitate more difficult and numerous projects. One such project is the more prevalent utilization of geothermal energy, as opposed to fossil fuels. Tapping into this natural resource requires more efficient and cost-effective methods of drilling, and as these methods are developed, a project like this one winds its way closer to becoming a reality.
Following is a selection of websites designed to give you an idea of the nature of mining and tunneling, and how it has evolved throughout ancient and recent history.
Drilling
Chronology of major drilling historical landmarks from 2500BC until the modern day across the world.
Tunneling
Today, it's safe to bore through mountains and burrow beneath oceans -- but it was not always this way. In fact, it took engineers thousands of years to perfect the art of digging tunnels...
A great information source for current issues and technological advancements in the tunneling industry.
1990 era land and water drilling and tunneling equipment photographs.
Presentation on the history of horizontal drilling focusing on the United States
News and marketing resources for the tunneling industry worldwide, including links to suppliers, publications, references, and resources.
Mining
Includes mining history bibliographies in major countries, links to organizations, network contacts, discussion forum.
The Mining History Association (MHA) is an organization of individuals interested in the history of mining and metallurgy. Members include independent scholars, laypersons, college and university professors, historians, miners, geologists, retired mining industry personnel, and many others. The MHA holds an annual meeting, publishes a scholarly journal and a quarterly newsletter, and provides a forum for discussion of the history of mining.
Centered around the Orphan Girl Mine in Montana, the museum features extensive exhibits, historic information, artifacts and more.
MiningNews.net provides comprehensive mining industry news and information to miners, suppliers, industry investors and others. MiningNews.net takes advantage of the extensive information resources of Australia's Mining Monthly, Australia's Longwalls and Resource Stocks to deliver news and analysis covering national and international mining.
In the history of American labor, the United Mine Workers of America has occupied a position of unquestioned leadership. The UMWA was founded in Columbus, Ohio in 1890 by the merger of Knights of Labor Trade Assembly No. 135 and the National Progressive Union of Miners and Mine Laborers….
The Laxey wheel, the Lady Isabella, is perhaps one of the best known and almost certainly the most photographed example of industrial archaeology in the British Isles. What is less appreciated is the part it played in the mining complex surrounding it. It is not known when mining operations started at Laxey but the earliest accounts place the date about 1781…
The gold miner’s headquarters, dedicated to the small scale and recreational gold miner. Includes the only recreational gold mining directory on the web today…
The St. Lawrence Fluorspar Mines: A brief history. Fluorspar is a non-metallic ore which, depending on the proportion of its components, is used in the manufacture of such things as aluminum, glass, and the refrigerant freon. At the time of its discovery, the St. Lawrence deposit was described as the largest in North America.
New Zealand Coal, chronology of events in New Zealand coal mining, from 1846 – 2003, with a graph of New Zealand coal output from 1880-2002.
The Office of Surface Mining is a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Interior with responsibility… to protect citizens and the environment during mining and reclamation. This "unofficial" chronology lists major milestones that were significant to the Office of Surface Mining when they occurred.
Yellowknife was founded as a gold mining camp in 1937 and has risen to become a great capital city, looking to the bright future and reflecting on its glorious past. The gold that lay beneath our city streets remained a buried treasure for millions of years…
A chronology of mineral development in Canada from 7000 BC – 2003.
