The Pits of Hathsin was the only atium mine in the Final Empire. The Lord Ruler sent only condemned men to mine it, both because it was the only way to find the crystals (using Allomancy near atium crystals to look for the crystals would shatter them) and because he wished for the location of the atium mines to remain secret. Convicts were forced to crawl up and down narrow shafts, often over the bones of other deceased prisoners, in order to find geodes, which contained a single bead of atium. Those who were unable to find a bead of atium each week were summarily beaten to death. Kelsier was the only prisoner known to have escaped from the Pits of Hathsin, earning himself the epiphet The Survivor of Hathsin. He bore distinctive scars layered on his arms from his time in the Pits.