The article is a translated, edited and abbreviated version of a text on Le vie del metalli - Le rotte commerciali nel Mediteraneo antico which appeared in the September/October 1985 issue of L'Universo (Istituto Geografico Militare, Florence, Italy). The author describes the mineral resources in Europe and around the Mediterranian Sea which were known during the second millenium BC, as well as the main copper routes, the tin route and the iron routes leading towards the rich city-states and commercial centers in the Levant, the Aegean and later to Rome. Gold and silver trade are also mentioned.