Agricola, Georgius
,
De re metallica
,
1912/1950
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value, sell them, on which account they seldom obtain even moderate wealth.
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<
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>There are some people who wash over the dumps from exhausted and
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abandoned mines, and those dumps which are derived from the drains of
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tunnels; and others who smelt the old slags; from all of which they make an
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ample return.</
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<
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>Now a miner, before he begins to mine the veins, must consider seven
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things, namely:—the situation, the conditions, the water, the roads, the
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climate, the right of ownership, and the neighbours. </
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<
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>There are four kinds
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of situations—mountain, hill, valley, and plain. </
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>Of these four, the
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first two are the most easily mined, because in them tunnels can be
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driven to drain off the water, which often makes mining operations very
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laborious, if it does not stop them altogether. </
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<
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>The last two kinds of
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ground are more troublesome, especially because tunnels cannot be driven
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in such places. </
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<
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>Nevertheless, a prudent miner considers all these four
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sorts of localities in the region in which he happens to be, and he searches for
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veins in those places where some torrent or other agency has removed and
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swept the soil away; yet he need not prospect everywhere, but since there
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is a great variety, both in mountains and in the three other kinds of
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localities, he always selects from them those which will give him the best
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chance of obtaining wealth.</
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<
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>In the first place, mountains differ greatly in position, some being
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situated in even and level plains, while others are found in broken and
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elevated regions, and others again seem to be piled up, one mountain upon
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another. </
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>The wise miner does not mine in mountains which are situated on
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open plains, neither does he dig in those which are placed on the summits of
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mountainous regions, unless by some chance the veins in those mountains
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have been denuded of their surface covering, and abounding in metals and
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other products, are exposed plainly to his notice,—for with regard to what
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I have already said more than once, and though I never repeat it again,
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I wish to emphasize this exception as to the localities which should
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not be selected. </
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>All districts do not possess a great number of mountains
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crowded together; some have but one, others two, others three, or perhaps
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a few more. </
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<
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>In some places there are plains lying between them; in others
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the mountains are joined together or separated only by narrow valleys.
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<
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>The miner should not dig in those solitary mountains, dispersed through
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the plains and open regions, but only in those which are connected and
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joined with others. </
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<
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>Then again, since mountains differ in size, some being
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very large, others of medium height, and others more like hills than
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mountains, the miner rarely digs in the largest or the smallest of them,
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but generally only in those of medium size. </
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<
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>Moreover, mountains have a
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great variety of shapes; for with some the slopes rise gradually, while
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others, on the contrary, are all precipitous; in some others the slopes are
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gradual on one side, and on the other sides precipitous; some are drawn
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out in length; some are gently curved; others assume different
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shapes. </
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<
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>But the miner may dig in all parts of them, except where there
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are precipices, and he should not neglect even these latter if metallic veins </
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