Possibly the world's oldest operational mine, the Skouriotissa copper mine, was founded in 1914 by the Cyprus Mines Corporation. During World War II copper mining was suspended, but then resumed until the 1974 Cypriot coup d'état. At the end of the conflict, the cease-fire demarcation line divided the holdings of the largest mining firm in the country, Cyprus Mines, causing their shutdown and sale to Hellenic Copper Mines Ltd. As a result of near complete extraction of copper and iron pyrite ore, and the expense of extracting the remaining low grade deposits companies which had resumed operations after the conflict operated on smaller scales. Falling international copper prices created a recession forcing the other companies to cease mining production entirely by 1979. In 1981, Hellenic Ltd. began recovering copper from leaching waste, ceased that production in 1993, but reopened mining operations at Skouriotissa in 1996.