Mining

This larger-than-life portrait in Nevada's silver boomtown is decorated with over 3,000 silver dollars.

A museum dedicated to the history of the diamond trade in the Netherlands.

A surreal abandoned mining site near West Africa’s tallest mountain.

One of the largest vehicles ever built is now open to the public.

Once a mining boom town, Mogollon’s well-preserved buildings are tucked away in the mountains of the Gila National Forest.

A glimpse into Taiwan's coal-mining past.

The only mine for rare earth elements in the United States has been intermittently active since the 1950s.

This 200-year-old cabin was the home of some of the first Wisconsin “badgers” and the site of the broken promises that led to their arrival.

A literal in-depth look at one of the United States' most cherished coal mines and the questionable working conditions of its laborers

This cliffside memorial marks the final resting place of a lonely violinist.

Star garnets are so rare that you can only find them in two places on Earth—here, you can dig for them.

The oldest subscription library in Britain was started by lead miners in southwest Scotland.

This rural bridge gave the government of West Virginia a red scare.

The site of one of the most profitable silver mines in the world, reclaimed by Lake Superior.

Preserved 19th-century lime kilns sit in southern Sweden.

The oldest operating hotel in Illinois enjoys a historic (and some say haunted) past.

These massive concrete foundations and smelter chimney bricks still smell like smoke after a century.