A miner assists in unloading copper ore above a conveyor belt more than 1,000 meters underground in the PolkowiceSieroszowice copper and silver mine in southwestern Poland, owned by the KGHM conglomerate, a metallurgical powerhouse in the country, on March 25, 2026. Thousands of meters beneath the ground, amid suffocating heat, lies one of the keys to Poland's rumbling mining sector -- and the world economy. (Photo by Wojtek RADWANSKI / AFP via Getty Images)