In the past , Phuket was famous as a tin-mining town. Tin veins were almost everywhere on the island. Before the advent of modern technology, the mining method simply to dig a well wit a width of approximately four feet and a depth of ten to thirty feet. At least two men were required to open the pit. One must be in the pit digging up the ore. The other one must be on the fround to pull up a bucket that had been filled with the ore. Tin ore was brought up in the bucket together with stones and clay. The ore was then washed in running water to clean out Sand and stones. The resulting tin concentrate contained 70-75% of the tin metal. After all the tin was dug up, the pit was abandoned.