Heyl & Patterson Blog

Man has been mining stone, metals and minerals since prehistoric times.  The world's oldest known mine site is located in Swaziland in Africa, where the first mining of metals was recorded via carbon dating as 43,000 BC.  Mining of metallic minerals occurred in ancient Egypt, Greece and the Roman Empire, and metals such as iron ore contributed to the industrial growth of Europe during the Middle Ages.  Iron is the fourth most abundant mineral in the Earth's crust, at about five percent, and it also represents 95 percent of all metal used in any given year.