Mining is the extraction of precious minerals or other geological materials from the earth. Typically originating from an ore body, lode, vein, vein, reef, or placer deposit. These deposits form a mineralized complex of interest to the miner. Ores recovered by mining include metals, coal, oil shale, gemstones, limestone, chalk, dimension stone, rock salt, potash, gravel and clay. Mining is necessary to obtain any material that cannot be grown or artificially created in a laboratory or factory. Mining in a broad sense includes the extraction of any non-renewable resources such as oil, natural gas and water. The extraction of stones and metals has been a human activity since prehistoric times. Modern mining processes involve prospecting for ore, analyzing a mine's profit potential, extracting the desired materials, and final reclamation of the land after the mine closes. Mining operations almost always create a negative impact on the environment, both during mining activity and after the mine is closed. This is why most countries around the world have adopted regulations to reduce the impact. Since the beginning of civilization, humans have used stone, ceramics, and later metals found near the Earth's surface. These were used to make tools and weapons, using high quality flint found in northern France, southern England and Poland to create flint tools. Flint mines were discovered in areas of chalk where the veins of the stone were followed underground by shafts and galleries. Other quarried hard rocks are collected for axes, notably greenstone. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on 'Why violent video games should not be banned'? Get the original essay The oldest known mine according to archaeological records is Lion's Cave, Swaziland, which carbon dating shows it is approximately 43,000 years old. At this site, Paleolithic humans extracted hematite to make ocher, a red pigment. Mines of similar age in Hungary are thought to be sites where Neanderthals may have extracted flint to make weapons and tools. There are countless ways to mine, including surface mining which involves removing surface vegetation, dirt and layers of bedrock in order to reach buried ore deposits. Surface mining techniques include surface mining, which involves recovering materials from a surface mine into the ground, quarrying, which is the same as surface mining , except that it refers to sand, stone and clay, surface mining, which involves stripping in the open air. the removal of layers to reveal ore veins beneath and the removal of the top of a mountain, usually to facilitate coal mining, which involves removing the top of a mountain to reach deposits of ore buried deep in the mountain. Finally, landfill mining involves sites where landfills are excavated and processed. Landfill mining has been seen as a solution to combat long-term methane emissions and local pollution. Another type of mining is underground mining, which involves digging tunnels or shafts into the earth to reach.