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History
Zinc deposits have been exploited for thousands of years, with the oldest zinc mine, located in Rajasthan, India established nearly 2000 years BP.

Pure zinc production occurred in the 9th century AD while, earlier in antiquity Zinc was primarily utilized in the alloying of copper to produce Brass. This is because the isolation of zinc metal from its ore poses a unique challenge. This is because at the temperature zinc is released from its ore it vaporizes into a gas, and if the furnace is not air tight, the gaseous Zinc reacts with the air to form zinc oxide.

Metallic zinc smelting occurred in 9th century BC in India, followed soon by China 300 years later, and In Europe by 1738 AD. The methods of smelting in China and India were most likely independently developed, while the method of smelting developed in Europe was likely derived by the Indian method.

Methods of extraction
Zinc is mined both at the surface and at depth. Surface mining of zinc typically produces ores of zinc oxide, while underground mining yields Zinc sulfide ores. Some of the common methods of Zinc mining are open pit mining, open stope, and cut and fill mining  :

Open pit mining: This method of surface mining removes waste rock from above an ore deposit before it can be extracted. Once the waste is removed the ore is then mined. This is primarily done using track mounted shovels in larger scale operations, while in smaller scale operations, front loaders are typically used.

Fire Setting: In antiquity, Zinc was mined underground using the fire setting method. This method required burning timber to be placed on the rock surface. The heat generated would be sufficient to crack the rock, and any moisture within would become vaporised and expand further cracking the rock. The separated rock would be easily removed either by hand or with the use of picks and shovels.

Open stope mining: This is a method of underground mining where ore bodies are completely removed leaving sizeable caverns (stopes) within the mine. Open stope mining leaves these caverns with no additional bracing or external support. What is used to support the cavern walls, are random pillars of ore which have not removed.

Cut and Fill stooping: A method of underground mining which removes ore from below the deposit. The stope is then filled with waste rock to replace the mined out ore to support the stope walls, and to provide an elevated floor for the miners and equipment to further extract ore from the deposit.

Production
The global production of mined zinc in 2019 was an estimated to be between 13 million tons or a 4% increase from 2018. With the increase primarily attributed to the increased output of zinc mines located in Australia and China.

In 2020 production of zinc is expected to rise 3.7% to 13.99 million tons, with this increase caused by increased production of zinc generated by China and India.

In 2019, the global demand of zinc exceeded supply and resulted in an anticipated deficit of 178k tons, while in 2020 there is an expected surplus of 192k tons.

Zinc producing countries ranked by their output for 2018 is as follows :

Environmental Impact
Research conducted in the health of the benthic macroinvertibrate populations in the mining areas of southeastern Missouri have yielded a wealth of information on the effect of zinc mining and its effect on its local environment. Fish and Crayfish populations in localities near mining sites have been observed to be much lower that other populations found in reference sites; with the crayfish possessing metal concentrations within their tissues at a much greater concentration than their reference counterparts. Other investigation into the effect of the health of mussel populations that reside near lead-zinc mining areas have found that the populations residing near mining areas possessed reduced biomass, and were less speciose than those found in their reference sites. Plant tissue have been reported to possess concentrations of metals 10-60% higher than reference. Macroinvertibrate assessments of localities immediately downstream of mining activity have observed a reduction in biotic condition 10-58% and with the locality possessing a impaired ability to support its populations when compared to other reference sites. .

Benthic macro-invertebrates such as crayfish and mussels represent a pathway for Biomagnification, where the concentration of noxious materials within organisms at higher trophic levels as a result of consuming contaminated prey items. In addition, benthic macro invertebrate populations are frequently used as indicators of overall ecosystem health.

Assessment of soil samples from agricultural areas near a lead-zinc mining region in Guangxi, China have observed a "Serious pollution level" of zinc in the soils of the paddy fields relatively close to the mining area and a "Moderate pollution level" in the aerated fields relatively further away from the mining area. The research also indicated that as a result of their Nemerow synthetic index assessment, the region under study is not fit for agricultural purposes. Other investigation into the effect of zinc mining on agricultural soils in the Heilongjiang Province of china has found that the soils were "moderately contaminated" and a significant reduction in the population and diversity of the bacterial assemblages within the soils and reduced activity of soil enzymes. The activity of the bacteria and enzymes aid plant matter in the uptake of nutrients, decompose decaying matter, and other ecosystem interactions. Their reduction and impaired effectiveness result in poorer agricultural productivity.