Realistically, what resources do you mine in generic mines?

[Joghurt]

So let's say I build a mine on some hills. There are no luxury, bonus or strategic resources on those hills, they are just hills and I'm building the mine to boost my production.

But what exactly is it that they mine there?

Are they mining iron? I guess not because there's no strategic resource there, they're just hills.
Copper? No, there's no bonus resource there?
Stone? No, it's not a quarry. It's a mine.

Since pretty much every minable resource IRL is available in the game as a strategic, bonus or luxury resource, i.e. coal or gold or whatever, what do they mine in those generic mines if not any of these resources?

I just thought it would be fun to talk about.

[Andrewbh2003]

my guess is clay to make brick given that it was a common construction material/method up until ancient greece "and even then depending on where in the world you are" as for modern mines i like to think its a "clearing mine" ie you clear lands for housing by getting rid of boulders occupying prime real estate "bit of a stretch but thats the only theory i have"

[Lemurian1972]

There are plenty of mined resources not covered by the existing list, or just consider them to be minor amounts of the same materials we get and use in the major deposits later. Humans mined coal for millennia in smaller amounts long before mass amounts became important in the Industrial Age.

[Panic Fire]

Originally posted by SWEDENKVIST:

So let's say I build a mine on some hills. There are no luxury, bonus or strategic resources on those hills, they are just hills and I'm building the mine to boost my production.

But what exactly is it that they mine there?

Are they mining iron? I guess not because there's no strategic resource there, they're just hills.
Copper? No, there's no bonus resource there?
Stone? No, it's not a quarry. It's a mine.

Since pretty much every minable resource IRL is available in the game as a strategic, bonus or luxury resource, i.e. coal or gold or whatever, what do they mine in those generic mines if not any of these resources?

I just thought it would be fun to talk about.

I'm pretty sure bonus resources just means there's an abundance of that resource on that tile, not that it can only be found there. So you can probably assume you are still mining copper, iron, ect from the regular mine, just not in the abundance that a bonus resource would give, or enough to affectivly use it it to arm an army (as with a stratigic resource) or enough to use with the population to increase happieness.

[cerberusiv]

Lead, tin, antimony and a number of other metals have been mined throughout human history.

Clay as mentioned. Limestone to use in more modern steel production. Gravel for roads (rather than building stone which I think is what stone resources in the game are). Technically these are quarried, not mined but then you can only build quarries on resource tiles.

Other possibilities include Blue John and flint.

As a previous post says, iron and other minerals are pretty widespread. A small or low grade iron deposit would not warrant a strategic resource icon but is where iron for plough blades and agricultural tools came from. Good quality iron, suitable for sword blades and armour, such as the relatively large haematite deposits in Sweden, would merit being tagged as a strategic resource.

Interesting question though.

[Mark Loring]

Well, clay (for pottery, ceramics, bricks, etc) & limestone first come to mind. Beyond that, think of more basic metals, like tin & lead.

[Drunk Demoman]

I just imagine them mining up some insanely hard dirt that's amazing for use in construction.
Though it could just be gravel or cobblestone, since it turns into a quarry- so most likely those two.

[therealjohnconnor]

Thanks, Frayed Sanity, good suggestions. Id add flint for tool-making, like at England's Grimes Graves, although in more modern eras it could be anything..

[Joghurt]

Thanks for all the suggestions, you all! I myself have mostly been thinking along the lines of Panic Fire's response, that those bonus or strategic markers just means there's an abundance of that resource there. But I thought it would be interesting to bring up!