Charles Ellicott Commentary Job 28:1

"Surely there is a mine for silver, And a place for gold which they refine." — Job 28:1 (ASV)

Surely there is a vein for the silver. — In this chapter, Job draws out a magnificent contrast between human skill and ingenuity and Divine wisdom.

The difficulty for the ordinary reader is not perceiving that the person spoken of in Job 28:3 is man, and not God. Man possesses and exercises this mastery over nature, but is still ignorant of wisdom unless God bestows it on him.

It is only natural that Job should say this, after his painful experience of the lack of wisdom in his friends.