The operations developed around the digging of ditches and in depth thanks to shafts ("bottini") and tunnels. The ongoing vein or of the mineral lens was followed, so that the operation extension was quite limited. To grab on the rocky mass, picks, wedges and other hand tools were employed; sometimes fire was used to break out harder rocks. The working week started at noon on Monday and ended at noon on Saturday. Miners worked for 12 hours a day and during the week they could not leave their work. During summer season operations were stopped because of the unwholesome climate, being mostly coastal areas stricken by the plight of malaria.