An Incredible Lead-Silver-Zinc Mine - The Deeper We Go, The Better It Gets
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- Опубликовано: 13 мар 2021
- The most enjoyable explorations I’ve done are of mines that keep getting better and better the farther you go into them. These are mines that just keep on giving and each level you explore is more exciting than the last. This is one of those mines. From the headframe, ore bin, and incredible dry-stacked walls outside, we had a feeling that this mine was going to be neat, and that assumption was absolutely correct. As we descended into the depths of this mine, not only did the artifacts get better, the geology did too! This mine contained some of the most visually stunning geology I have seen. We saw a whole lot of calcite, but it wasn’t like anything we’ve seen before. The individual crystal grains were huge and there were clusters of it large enough to cover the whole drift floor to back. Inside the calcite were pockets and veins of beautiful mineralization. I can’t imagine what the ore they removed looked like. This was a lead, silver, copper, and zinc mine that was worked primarily from the early 1870s to just after the turn of the century. It was then worked on and off into the 1950s.
One thing to note, I am not sure if the last level we were on was really the 640 level. It may have actually been the 400 level, as it didn’t feel like we climbed nearly 640 feet of ladders. If I was mistaken, then one of those two winzes we saw may actually go down 240 feet. We plan to return to this mine to drop those winzes and explore areas we were not able to access this time, so stay tuned for that.
Link to Xavier’s channel: / @ercole746
This is the first video I've posted that was filmed with my new camera! Let me know what you think of it. Personally I think it's a big improvement, especially in regards to stability.
I still have a few videos to post that were filmed with the older one.
Beautiful shots thank you for sharing
What camera did you go to?
Why does my post regarding Vincent Kelley keep disappearing? is it RUclips or do you not want it posted?
Great clear camera work, bet it looks much better in person. Thanks!
Video looks great!
I say this in every mine video but the amount & extensive work that went into creating a mine is mind boggling....especially old mines where miners used candles or carbide lamps...just hard to imagine
My thought exactly
I worked at a lead, zinc and silver mine in Northern Idaho called the Star Mine up Burke Canyon. They finally closed it down in June, 1983. They were just developing level 8300. As in 8300 feet down. It was the deepest mine in the continental U.S.
I remember my dad talking about this mine...Not too far away was a silver mine where in the 70's where men were killed in an explosion...
That was the Sunshine mine fire in 1972. It was located near Kellogg, Idaho. No explosion. A fire started in one of the upper levels and went undetected until it was too late. Carbon dioxide is heavier than air and has no odor. It can kill with just one breath. Men started dropping like flies in the lower levels until they realized what was going on. Even though they had respirators on their belts, for just this occasion, they were not trained in their us. These respirators are just like your cat converters on your cars and trucks. They turn carbon dioxide into breathable carbon monoxide They get real hot when there is carbon dioxide in the air. The higher the concentration, the hotter they get. Men were taking them out of their mouths because of the heat and it was instant death. The fire was put out the same day and then came the rescue/recovery effort. Men were found in a dog house, dead (don't know what level) with food in their mouths. It kills that fast. 92 men lost their lives in that fire and they all died of carbon dioxide poisoning. By the way. A dog house is a cut-out in the main drift where supplies were stored. They had wood floors, which made a good place to eat.
I suppose the star mine is not explorable?
@@mirhasanoddname I'm not sure. We are going up to visit friends in the area Next spring. I will contact Hecla Mining Co, and try to get permission to walk in. I know that mine like the back of my hand. The only part of the mine to explore is the Day side of the mine or the hoist room and machine shop. The lower part of the mine is under water.
@@MollydogRadar Thank you for answering, I hope you get permission
VC Kelly (the name on the wall at 49:27) would be the geologist Vincent Cooper Kelly (1904-1988). He spent much of his career at University of New Mexico. He would have written that as a grad student when at Cal Tech. He published extensively and was a top notch geologist.
He certainly left his mark :)
I was pretty sure this was magdella New Mexico the lead zinc ore they were chasing was smithsonite reminds me of rush district in Arkansas went to the morning Star mine when I was young there where flow Stone in there as well found cool calicium carbonate formation on tin sheet as well cool vidieo
Here is a article on him www.geosociety.org/documents/gsa/memorials/v24/Kelley-VC.pdf
You don't mean Magdalena, NM, do you?? Both of my grandparents grew up there. The main mining operation I know of was the Kelly mine. I know smithsonite is a highly sought-after mineral in the area.
My dad was hard rock shaft miner....The advice he gave me at 8 years old was if you get curious and want to explore an old mine shaft...Always let people know exactly where you are at ... And be a good friend with the undertaker....He never-never kidded about the last part...
Your dad was a wise and knowledgeable man.
And now you are seeing his world below the surface. How right he was.
That Stope looked small until you focused on the ladder then it like...Wow! Yeah, you could tell they found that cave by accident. The opening next to the ore sled rail looked natural. Someone had to have gone down on ropes and discoved a vein of silver. The white rock you found up top gave it away there was ore to be had below. Imagine the guy that stumbled upon that and instantly saw dollar signs. Blasting and digging had to be hard knowing that hill side had natural caves in it to begin with. Back in the early 1900's late 1800's there was a huge demand for lead, silver and zinc. It's so cool looking at the artifacts.
My father was an explosives expert. He worked for Hercules Powder co for thirty years in the southwest. He would take me along when I was a kid. Most of his work was in open pit copper and iron ore mines. Eagle mountain iron mine was a major customer of his located near the Mexican border. Also open pit copper mines around southern Arizona. He always warned against entering an abandoned mine shaft. Some very small operators dug mine shafts straight back from the base of a hill called ' coyotes' those were the most dangerous. They had no wood supports. Arizona has thousands of these wild cat mines.
Oh yeah!
That was by far my favorite, I'm a big rock hound, at 74yrs I can't go where you are, thanks much.
At least one of those raises appears to be a giant lava tube, and the newsprint most likely was from the dynamite boxes. They used celluloid to pack the boxes along with sawdust. The old timer Miners didn't do much reading in mines not even on their break. Alot of them couldn't even read.
Thanks for this amazing document!
My thoughts are for the workers who mined those shafts with their hard labor. My gosh what a difficult dangerous job that would have been. Imagine being able to interview those men from back in those days.
Awesome video and interesting geology! One thing stood out: NEVER touch old dynamite, even breathe on it! It can sweat nitroglycerine crystals that are sensitive to light touch, making it extremely dangerous.
Those offset cubes of calcite are called rhombic crystals. Also, the tilted rock face with occasional timbers against it is called a hanging wall, where silver ore tends to concentrate. I explored some really old silver mines in the Calico area before they sealed them all. There was a deep level with tracks. The hanging wall had numerous 2' tree trunks supporting it as they excavated the ore. Over the decades, the weight had crushed some of these by several inches so there was a band of exploded wood fibers. At the top of the rickety ladders to the lowest level, there was a piece of wood from a fruit box dated 1948 or so, and that was late in the mine's life. Someone spraypainted an arrow and "To hell!"
Hat off to the people who built and worked in this mine and the Forgotten Mining History men. Respect such hard workers with courage, risky life, our ancestors came to build Northern America so we can have a great country called the United States of America today. Thank you for the excellent video, well done from Oregon, USA.
Yeah if you say so
Happy to document our mining heritage! Thanks for watching!
Love how you leave everything in place, Not scavengers. Impressed.
hi Yo like d name yeh no scavengers new fan ! bored wr ilive bored
Would love to see these guys start a museum though
I'd like you fellows to know I enjoyed every minute of the show, from an old guy thank you very much, I worried about your safety every step of the way, God bless. from Canada
Thanks for watching, Paul!
I bet a black light in that mine would really bring out the colors! Good job your videos are awesome!
Thanks for watching! I'll bring a small blacklight next time.
@@forgottenmininghistory Yup !! I have two types of U/V lights that I have used. One is a LED type of a mini-mag pen light, for short wave U/V. And the other is a 6" fluorescent tube type for longwave U/V. If I remember correctly, it uses 4 AA batteries ! Great Work !! BTW where is this mine located ??
I am a veteran of many mining videos and this is the best that I have yet seen.
Great to see guys that don't walk away with arms full of artefacts.
Well done you chaps. Excellent work.
Great video and one of the best that I have watched from any one of the mine explorers for quite a while. Thanks for taking the time to show the geology, the formations and for the great videography. Much better than rushing through a mine and the viewer becoming totally disorientated and not seeing much of anything. Many thanks and keep up the great work, it is much appreciated by those of us who will never get to see these terrific old mines and locations.
Thanks for spending some time highlighting the geology.
I really enjoyed this, one of the better underground exploring movies. The mineralization is outta this world, glad you focused on it, and the history was amazing too..
Great Job Nick. This is your best video to date. The new camera is a big improvement. Consider slowing your pans sometimes to give the viewer's eyes a chance to catch up. Really enjoyed sharing the adventure. Greetings to Xavier. He's a trip. I appreciate your mutual enthusiasm. . .
Love the geology. Thanks for taking the time to record this.
I will let you guys explore the caves. I will stick to surface rockhounding and exploring. Enjoyed the footage.
Imagine a group of the original miners sitting around, drinking beers and watching this video. They would be laughing their asses off.
There's no doubt they would be laughing at us!
Would they be laughing at stupidity or?
@16:47 - that's a ''Bull Durham Smoking Tobacco'' pouch . Bull Durham was a world famous brand of Tobacco manufactured by W.T. Blackwell and Company in Durham , North Carolina that originated in the 1850's and remained in production until August 15 , 1988 . ( read the full story on Wikipedia ) . Bull Durham Tobacco in the pouch was the only ''Flaked'' Tobacco on the market , and therefore was the only Tobacco that would allow you to hand-roll a cigarette with just one hand . In fact one of their famous Television Commercials showed a Cowboy on horseback , reins in one hand and hand-rolling a cigarette with his other hand . --- I used to smoke Bull Durham , and with practice it was quite easy to hand-roll a cigarette with just one hand , and I did it quite often . --- < Doc , Miner for over 50 years > .
I was terrified. Thanks!
Also, the drifts and the stopes in the Star mine Ran level. All the drifts ran 200 feet off the vain. We ran cross cut drifts 50 feet past the vain, then mined up 20 feet to start the stope going in both directions. They found out years ago not to run drifts on the vain. The walls squeeze in from the tremendous pressures in a matter of months. The cross cuts were about 400 feet apart. The levels were 200 feet apart. The stopes were mined out till they met up with the stopes in the other cross cuts. It should be noted that all the stopes were timbered with 6 inches of lagging for the roof. Lagging is a rough cut board measuring 3 inches by 6-12 inch wide. Once we met up with the other miners in their stope, we went back to the start, mined up another 10 feet and started the mining process all over again. Only difference is the roof we made was now our floor. After mining up another 10 feet, we back filled the lower mined out section with sand, which was the waste rock pumped back in from the mill via rubber lined 4 inch pipe. Once we mined up to the level above us, called breaking sill, and the final back fill was complete, that level was shut down and we went deeper. One more thing; There were commercial grade air conditioners on all levels below 6700.The water temp coming out of the seams in the rock on 7500 was 112 degrees. Every level had electric trains and were pretty wide. Nothing like that mine you are showing here. Hope I didn't bore you.
Nothing boring here, when it is all good stuff for a newbie interested in the underground :)
i have a lot of questions about the star mine. i would love to pick your brain!
@@wlong1794 Sure
@@MollydogRadar thanks!
1. how many men were working per shift when you were there?
2. there seems to be a huge shaft in burke itself, was that in disuse by the time the shaft you drove train to was being used?
3.does that main haulage tunnel where the diesel locomotive ran end at the vertical shaft or does it continue on that level into mullan. i found a map connecting the old shaft to Mullan but was wondering if there was any old connections to the Friday mine in Mullan?
thanks for sharing you knowledge!
You guys have guts incredible.
Excellent recording of the geology. Great job!
Wow, that’s awesome 👏 👏👏👏👏👍👍😃 thank you for sharing!
Never mess with old dynamite ! Nitro Glycerine crystalizes over time and becomes very unstable !
The merest thought of violence is signing your death warrant...
Stuck in a hospital recovering. This was a wonderful escape. Thank you.
@NitroLPR9 set to be released tomorrow ! 3 weeks of which I don't remember half. be healthy everyone.
@@chris_iapetus dont make it about you. :)
@@DarinCates lol. I was showing appreciation.
I know this comment is very late but I hope you're alright!
@@forgottenmininghistory Doing great thanks ! Your videos were an awesome way to alleviate the boredom.
I could do this until I remembered how far down and how close tight the confinement then all panic would be let loose. Hope no earthquakes.
I’ve read that caves are the safest places to be in earthquakes, because the energy waves travel until they reach the surface. I don’t know if that applies to mine tunnels.
@@mitchellbarnow1709 might shake some heavy lumps down as the vibrate by.
Very interesting mine, thanks for exploring it.
Awesome mine, awesome tour, this site should be preserved and protected for early mining activities.
Thanks for sharing..that was so cool..can't wait to see the next one..be safe guys
Simply stunning look back in history... Those men and times were not for the squeamish... Bravo and thanks for sharing... Fascinating and educational. I don’t understand all the nomenclature but will look it up! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
That was an increadable mine, looked like a lot of good ore left.
Yes please, talk more about the geology of the formations we're looking at. It would be pretty cool to know how these minerals and things were formed!
Great video.
I love going down into these old mines with you guys via video 🥰
Imagine digging this far and not hitting any diamonds, nwbs.
Awesome content!
Xavier looked like a great help to you.....Excellent teamwork. I can only imagine the beauty of seeing it in person. Thank you!
Beautiful. Appreciate you sharing with us.
Youngstown, Ohio was a major steel center. In the late 80s only about 5 or 10% of the industry was left.
After antitrust legislation was enacted, Dupont was forced to divest some of its holdings. This resulted in the formation of Hercules. Later, Hercules attracted more investment and became a significant company.
The geology was farking impressive. Awesome explore guys. Those calcite deposits were huge. Love to have one in my backyard. Beautiful mineralization and plenty of ore left behind. The copper veins were so pretty.
Love this virtual cave exploring especially during COVID !!!
My great grandfather graduated from Cornwall school of mines and mined in Idaho Springs Colorado and just north of Mexico City. I’ve still got a few coins from the 1830’s. Your video very cool!
That was a "Bull Durham" smoking tobacco bag you guys found. It was a bull, not a cow on the tag. That's old school.
Yeah, 1960's or 1970's North Carolina anyway! These guys can't see the forest for the trees. Fanboyism at its repetitive best!
@@michaelsmith2412 It's early 1900's
Thanks for letting us come exploring with you.
Definitely enjoyed, well, everything...lol 👍🏻❤️😎
I think a couple of cold beverages were enjoyed after this exploration.
And your right, exploring that bottom level was definitely worth the revisit.
Enjoyed the geological information too.
Safe caving guys!
wonderful trip thru the mine. i really was impressed with the geology, so many colors. i can sum up that trip with one word....WOW!
It is still the best geology I've seen in a mine.
i looked up the person in question, cal tech, v.c.kelley he did work for cal tech, dated 6/25/36/ born 04 died 88. i have a friend that remembers him at cal tech,. . and r bolm was his training in cal tech conducted by mr. kelley. . mr. kelley always said it was his favorite mine to explore. a lot of history.
I bet there was a old time telephone in that room with the batterys, And the wires went to the suface!
Yep, those batteries were Leclanché cells (eg forerunner of modern dry cells) so not rechargeable as was suggested.
Were probably used to power a telephone system,.
All the blue that you see in most of these Californian mines is Chrysocolla, a copper mineral. If you lick it, it will immediately absorb moisture, and your tongue will lightly stick to the surface.
@Nondescript Because it is how you determine what mineral it is, on site, without super heavy and expensive equipment.
That’s an awesome mine. The calcite crystals were incredible. So many artifacts. Now I am going to have to dig out that tank in my mine to verify what it is.
This is certainly one of the better mines we've found. Lots of great mineral specimens. It would be neat if they are in fact the same tank. I've been bad at responding to comments lately but if I saw yours I would have answered sooner. As always, thank you for watching Lars!
Excellent. Thank you for your work.
This is my new favorite channel.
Love your guys vibe and solid info.
The Bonanza mine was incredible! Much respect to you two. Be safe out there!
That was a COOL explore! Worth every minute. The geology, your camera did its best but I was still amazed. When you single out ore samples and place them on the ground for inspection was the way to go. Thank you, one of my favs for sure!
An amazing mine. You hit the jackpot on this one. Not boring at all and thanks for taking a close look at those intrusions. A+
Thank you so much, I have never watched a video like yours before. it was amazing 👏
Fantastic footage and the beauty of the geology really shows up on your new camera equipment! Thank you so much for sharing with us.
Thank you for a wonderful tour of that mine :-)
Nice work!
Great exploration and fun to watch. And I am glad to see you had a companion while underground, please take the time to 'Thank' Xavier on his observations and help. It would be nice when you turn around to do so slowly, its pretty easy for us old guys to get motion sickness. Stay safe and hope to see more!
You guys are nuts to go down there.
Nice job! You guys find some really neat ones!
Thanks for the comment! Lots of fascinating mines in this general area.
Thanks for sharing, keep up the geology / mineralogy lessons it helps me understand what I am looking at.
Thanks for bringing us along gentlemen.
⛏😀👍
Amazing journey.Thank you for sharing!
I've swam with sharks, ran out of air at 120 ft. But this is nuts. No way in hell would I do this
Deep is deep! Cave diving is awesome and so is this! Ba ha ha!
@@joelnorton9742 you can't shoot big fish in caves. I don't see the point
If you were deeper you would have died from the bends
@@michaelrasmussen426 found about 2 breaths from my BC on the way up. Air expansion
Only been bent once! Just a shoulder. The deep doesn't scare me!
Great video! The extensive details covered in this are fascinating. Looking forward to more videos.
Very interesting guys.thank you for taking us on this adventure.
17:52 Gutta Percha is a latex like tree sap still used for dental plugs. In this usage it was a coating that made the fuse water proof.
Camera gave some really good pictures. That was a very pretty calcite mine. The tobacco pouch very cool
This is Amazing!
These guys are crazy brave
Nice camera views can see more of the minerals Thank's definitely will look forward to next vid!!!; )
Thanks for watching!
When I was in my late teens and early twenties I used to love going spelunking in caves, not mines. Really cool!
Amazing! Love the geology in that mine.
Fully enjoyed the video!! Thank you!
I would have trouble climbing out of that mine because I would be packing a lot of mineral samples. Just beautiful mineralization, thanks for showing us.
This is best video. I love that you got close up video of the minerals and crystals. So beautiful. Good job guys
Awesome footage!
The rock at 28:50 is a lead/zinc matrix. The blue tint gives that away. Best cave/mine video I've seen on RUclips. Thanks!
Good God these videos of old mines keep me on the edge of my seat yelling at my cell phone. 😱😖
Great video, this is once of my hobbies also!! Love the artifacts and geology you found.
The tax stamp on the tobacco pouch appears to be a "John Quincy Adams" stamp used from 1940 - 1958.
Thanks for sharing this info!
Beautiful minerals! Great filming! Gotta see whats at the bottom of that last whinze! Thanks for sharing!
I like the geology stuff too. Nice video
Thank you need to see more of this great
it just boggles my mind the extent of work that went into that place 1 digging the shaft 2 placing the rail ladder hoist system amazing the engineers of old
Wow this mine has the most unique geology I’ve ever seen. Very cool thanks for spending a little time showing us. A lot of guys just blow by and never let you get a good look. Really appreciate it. Great video
Awesome video man this one is on of your best by far keep it up. ⚒🧨⛏🇺🇸💎👍🍻
I'd never go in without rope..!!!...Very cool mine!!!
The geology. .. need i say more other than that was spectacular
Damn, the two of you certainly do find some treasures don't you? I watched the whole thing through. That drill column you were commenting on was for a drifter - likely a Leyner-styled drill, jacklegs have a pneumatic leg and came in later. Figured you knew but simply said jackleg by mistake. That noted, those solid steels were a mystery. I imagine it's possible for them to have been leftovers from widowmaker times, but believe it or not, some guys were drilling dry until pretty recently, crazy bastards.
Thanks for all the great info! I do find it hard to believe that anyone would use widowmakers over the safer alternatives. Even I'm starting to worry about all the dust I've breathed in from just exploring these mines.
Great video at this mine very interesting and very extensive mine !! Thanks,
That was fun, thank you.
I certainly would not touch that dynamite!
Fun video! Thanks.
Awesome video