“Mining,” as defined by the U.S. Bureau of Mines, “is the branch of industry involving the exploration and removal of minerals from the earth. Mining is one of the oldest and most important endeavors of humankind, because it provides the raw ingredients for most of the material world around us and, like agriculture, is the lifeblood of civilization.”
An example of the “room and pillar” method of mining, the Widow Jane Mine is one of the few mines in the Rosendale area that is relatively horizontal; most followed the seam of limestone at angles that approached 90 degrees (in other words, vertical!).