The mines of Almadén produce mercury.
There are land mines, of course.
The region's greatest economic resource lies in the manganese mines of Imini and the cobalt mines of Bou-Azzer, but it also has large deposits of copper.
The old, inefficient underground mines of states like West Virginia and Kentucky may, for example, lose out to the more productive surface mines of the Powder River Basin.
Colombia is famous for its emeralds, found primarily in the Muzo mines of the Cordillera Oriental.
Yet that Romney story is laden with land mines of his making.
The Philadelphia and Reading developed as a carrier of coal from the anthracite mines of Pennsylvania.
"Fashion is to France what the gold mines of Peru are to Spain," he proclaimed.
To escape this trap, firms such as Mittal are acquiring mines of their own.
The mines, of course, prefer to sell their coal at higher prices on the open market.
The city's steel industry is fed by the iron-ore mines of the Orne valley.
