This fortified settlement of some 2000 inhabitants is home to the miners and crafters who work the copper mines in the Barastaros Hills, one of the richest copper ores in Dragon Pass. Ore is brought from the mines and smelted outside the town in kilns and furnaces, and poured into molds. The copper bars are then transported by mule to Early Rise and then to Furthest, or shipped downriver to the Lunar Heartlands. Copper slag heaps from the last three centuries litter the landscape around Copper Town. The city is “owned” by the King of Tarsh and governed by his deputies.
Asrelia is the patron of mining.
So to put it more in a way that the Gloranthans would get, copper is found in rocks that hide treasure. You prise out the copper ores from the rocks using mauls and hammer stones. You then crush the ores and then smelt it. You remove sulphurs and other impurity through heating and create plenty of slag waste. You then take the copper and form it into ingots for transport to the metalworkers.So there are certain rocks that hide copper within. But you got to work to get it out. But where you have these rocks, there can be a lot of copper!
So the finding of the ore – you sacrifice to Asrelia, as she is the Goddess of Treasure Beneath the Earth. Smelting the ore, that is Gustbran the Workfire and God of the Kiln.
Most of the copper from Copper Town comes in the form of ingots. There are kilns all over the area near Copper Town, and loads of slag mounds.
How young do the miners begin work? Probably thirteen.
Only a very very small amount of metal is found in god bone form. That’s a magic item in Plunder.