Editing Thasos (section)

===Mining history===
The earliest mining on the island has been dated to around 13,000 BC, when [[Paleolithic]] miners dug a shaft at the site of the modern-era Tzines iron mine for the extraction of [[limonite|limonitic]] ochre.<ref>Kovkouli ''et al''. 1988.</ref> Mining for base and precious metals started around the 7th century BC with the Phoenicians, followed in the 4th century by the Greeks, then the Romans. These later mines were both open-cast and underground, mostly to exploit the island's numerous [[karst]] hosted calamine deposits for their lead and silver. Gold, copper and iron were also found; the [[Byzantine]]s quarried marble on the island.

In the early 20th century, mining companies (most notably the Speidel mining company) exploited the island's [[zinc]]-[[lead]] rich [[calamine]] ores, with a yield of around 2 million tonnes, and a processing plant at [[Limenaria]] produced [[zinc oxide]]. Iron ore was mined on a significant scale from 1954 to 1964, with a yield of around 3 million tonnes. Since 1964, surveys have established the existence of a deep-level zinc-lead deposit, but the only mining activity on the island has been marble quarrying.

<gallery class="center">
File:Sellada.jpg|[[Lead]]-[[zinc]] mine at Sellada
File:Cupanada.jpg|Iron mine of Koupanada
File:GR Thasos 81 Grube E1 01.jpg|Gold mine
File:Tzines.jpg|Iron mine at Tzines, with Paleolithic mine-tunnel
File:Marble quarry Thasos island.jpg|Marble quarry of Alyki
</gallery>