Building Blocks: Mineshaft

Every so often, as you roam the Overworld, you’ll come across traces of those who were here before you. The pot sherds you’ll find during archaeology, the ruined portals to the Nether, and the enormous skeletons of long-extinct species are all evidence of the ancient history of the world you’re exploring.

But while some of these traces clearly originate from long, long ago – some seem more recent. Perhaps the best example of this are the ruined mineshafts that are occasionally encountered underground. These structures are clear evidence of a well-organised attempt to extract the Overworld’s resources. Maybe that’s why it’s so hard to find diamonds?

The first mineshafts were discovered following the release of the Adventure Update in September 2011 (Beta 1.8 release date). They’re easy to recognise – a dense network of 3x3 tunnels, lined with oak wood and railways, often covered in cobwebs. They’re often easiest to spot when they intersect with canyons.

They’re a great place to explore for two reasons – resources and loot. On the walls of mineshafts, you’ll often find ore that the miners left behind, making them a quick way to stock up on basic resources like iron, copper and gold. But that’s not all. The mystery miners also left behind plenty of chests full of food, torches, railway components, and other good stuff.

Be wary, though, because the darkness of the underground makes mineshafts a great place for mobs to lurk. As well as the usual zombies, skeletons and creepers, you’ll find a particular type of “cave spider” that inhabits mineshafts -these smaller variants of the regular spider are not only harder to hit, but also inflict poison with their attacks. Stay away.

In the real world, humans have been building mines to extract resources for thousands of years. The earliest underground mines were likely to have been natural caves that were extended. But the Romans developed the technology substantially – building aqueducts to the mines so they could use water to not only locate veins of ore, but also to remove debris.

In the mining industry, “mineshaft” refers to vertical tunnels that take people and materials from the surface, usually in lifts of some kind. The horizontal ones seen in Minecraft are called “drifts” or “adits”, and just like in the game, they’re often propped up with wooden structures to lessen the risk of collapse.

Today, you perhaps imagine that the mining industry is highly mechanised and done by robots – and in some places it is. But in most places it still relies on people  toiling under harsh and dangerous conditions. The environmental impact of mining is also a growing problem. And there are concerns that some of the most important resources are running out.

In Minecraft, you have a near-infinite world to play in – if you run out of coal in one area, you can just move somewhere else. On Earth? We don’t have that luxury any longer...