19th-century mining. Historical artwork of miners in a graphite mine. Graphite is a form of carbon that is mined for a wide variety of uses, such as in pencils, and as an industrial lubricant, and as a heat-resistant material. These industrial uses of graphite increased in the 19th century during the Industrial Revolution. This graphite mine is in Batougal, in the Saiansk Mountains of eastern Siberia, Russia. Engraving published in Mines and Miners (L. Simonin, 1868).