

Since the early days of civilization, humans have used mining techniques to access minerals from the earth’s crust. Communities began to replace the nomadic lifestyle as Homo Sapiens evolved and the population expanded. Food, water, and shelter were all readily available to early tribes who settled near them. Human habitation began to be influenced by the location of other natural resources soon after.
Mined resources were most likely among the first commodities to be traded. Gradually, mining became one of the most important industries in the globe as the Mediterranean civilization developed. The best example of this is the wealth of Athens due to the extraction from silver mines.
