Those lights looked very bright. Were you ever asked to adjust your headlamp, so-as to not blind the person you were talking to? I no very little about underground mining, but your experience looked very cool to me.
It's getting harder to find. Demand is increasing. ALL that work to find, mine, refine, mint it, and it sells for $22......makes sense..........................................
To be fair, technological improvements have made it a bit easier to find, Helo adrill in, etc but I have no idea how to quantify that effect on price. There are also ways it has gotten more difficult such as environmental impact so maybe it's a wash.