This is true until today, on a global scale. Mining and other resource production tends to kill people and create horrible lunar landscapes. I grew up in a rust

This is true until today, on a global scale. Mining and other resource production tends to kill people and create horrible lunar landscapes. I grew up in a rust belt city myself. It is also somewhat nationality-agnostic. Coal miners in Merthyr Tydfil weren't any less exploited than coffee gatherers of Ghana.