the.com/mines
Holes humanity digs in pursuit of riches, occasionally striking gold, occasionally striking canaries.
means Excavations dug into the earth to extract valuable minerals, metals, coal, or gems — or, separately, hidden explosives waiting underfoot.
from From Old French mine, possibly Celtic, naming the metal vein itself; the explosive sense borrows the imagery of tunneling under enemy walls.
Deepest mineSouth Africa's gold mines plunge past 4 kilometers down.
Canary dutyBirds detected lethal gas before miners ever could.
Same wordLand mines named for sappers tunneling under fortifications.