Identifying minerals without sight

Properly ventilating a deep mine is a significant engineering challenge. Ergo, you don't want to be carrying around torches that use up some of your precious breathing oxygen if you don't absolutely have to.

So, suppose we have a civilization of dwarves that have all learned to use echolocation (like many actual blind people do) to get around efficiently in total darkness. Now they don't need torches, which helps keep their mines cooler and the air more wholesome. But, they can no longer see the color of the rocks and minerals they are digging up--at least, not until they take a sample back to the surface.

So, what methods are there to safely (i.e., "lick it!" should not be the first resort) identify what a dwarven miner is digging up in the dark?

posted over 4 years ago

Logan R. Kearsley‭

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