Coral mining was an extensive activity in the Maldivian history. Coral is the only building material in the country. The coral blocks are extracted from the reef. Long ago, collecting corals from house reef was widespread in Fuvahmulah as well. The species of porites corals were abundant on the reef front. In Fuvhahmulah, the reef flats were dominated by massive corals. Porites are normally found in back reef margins, lagoons and some fringing reefs. As there was no aggregate to build houses, people mined corals. Extracting and collecting corals was an extremely difficult and daunting work. Men used iron bars as the main tool to remove and break the living corals.

The extensive work is carried out by men who form into groups. Iron rods, axe, hammers, snorkeling equipment were used in this process. After several days of intense labor, the corals are deployed on land to dry. The exposure removes the salt and the pungent smell of the rocks. Then the rocks are transported to households or special places by wagons (gaadiyaa) to break into irregular pieces. The rocks are smashed using tools, especially axe, into pieces. The broken rocks are then used with lime (uva) to bond the coral pieces together to form walls and other buildings.