>>>I don’t think oil and gas extraction are considered mining.
They are considered mining in the BLS data produced by the Labor Department.
“The Mining sector comprises establishments that extract naturally occurring mineral solids, such as coal and ores; liquid minerals, such as crude petroleum; and gases, such as natural gas. The term mining is used in the broad sense to include quarrying, well operations, beneficiating (e.g., crushing, screening, washing, and flotation), and other preparation customarily performed at the mine site, or as a part of mining activity.”
Data can be found here
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t17.htm
I seem to recall an old bumper sticker:
“What can’t be grown,
must be mined.”
Not as good of a seller as “Earth First! (We’ll mine the rest of the planets later.)
My favorite “Ban mining. Let the bastards freeze in the dark.”