Mines
Mines are locations where minerals, ores, rock, and precious gems are dug from the earth. Fictional mines are often sprawling subterranean complexes full of a labyrinth of underground tunnels while the mines of fantasy worlds are frequently expansive underground kingdoms. Mines may be located in the mountains or hill regions. They may be above ground or underground. They may contain mine cart tracks, vertical shafts, underground chambers, and ore veins. Mines may be a part of vast underground cities or connect into underground ruins. They may be home to subterranean monsters, dwarves, or underground civilizations.
| Synonyms: dig sites, quarries, pits, shafts |
| Example Mythonyms: the Old Coal Mine, Miller’s Mine, the Lost Mine of Aruuk |
Designing Fictional Mines
Archetypes
Overview
When designing fictional mines consider the types of minerals being extracted at this site. If your world has fictional materials, mining these resources may be one way of obtaining them.
The deepest mine on earth is the Mponeng Gold Mine in South Africa. It reaches to a depth of 4.0 km / 2.5 mi below the surface.
Transportation
Mines require some means to move miners and equipment in while simultaneously moving ore, gems, or other material out. This may mean that mines possess mine cart tracks, conveyor systems, or a network of scaffolding. Modern mines or off-world mines may have elevator shafts that run from the surface to the lowest depths and these elevators may be the only way into or out of the mine.
What Lays Beneath…
Fictional miners may have dug too deep, and uncovered things that have never seen the light of day. Fictional mines may open into vast, underground cavern systems, underground seas, hollow cores, or lava lands.
