Bringing An Abandoned Gold Mine Back To Life: Part 24 of ?
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- Опубликовано: 1 окт 2024
- We’re still grinding away at our abandoned gold mine project. We very much appreciate the viewers that have continued to help make this possible with Patreon and through the direct donations on RUclips itself. Their support has allowed us to showcase the process of rehabilitating a mine and bringing a mine online. It has also allowed us to preserve a historically significant mine for at least another generation.
Some viewers have questioned when they’re going to start seeing gold from this project… That impatience is likely based upon the ease with which the old timers could swing a mine into production. That is no longer the case. Even a small mine - operating legally, of course - will take several years and millions of dollars to hit the production stage. There is core drilling, permits to obtain, lawyers and consultants to pay, environmental testing, etc. It is not a swift process.
We have been disappointed in not intercepting more of the blocked off (by collapses) older workings with the drill program. So, in the next video in this series, we’re going to be surveying some adjacent historical mining areas to see if they are worthy of bringing into this project. There were some significant mines next to ours.
In the meantime, the pump in my well just failed. So, I’m going to make this short and start making some phone calls because no water = no fun.
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You can see the full TVR Exploring playlist of abandoned mines here: goo.gl/TEKq9L
You can see the gear that I use for mine exploring here: bit.ly/2wqcBDD and here: bit.ly/2p6Jip6
Several kind viewers have asked about donating to help cover some of the many expenses associated with exploring these abandoned mines. Inspired by their generosity, I set up a Patreon account. So, if anyone would care to chip in, I’m under TVR Exploring on Patreon.
Thanks for watching!
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Growing up in California’s “Gold Rush Country” made it easy to take all of the history around us for granted. However, abandoned mine sites have a lot working against them - nature, vandals, scrappers and various government agencies… The old prospectors and miners that used to roam our lonely mountains and toil away deep underground are disappearing quickly as well.
These losses finally caught our attention and we felt compelled to make an effort to document as many of the ghost towns and abandoned mines that we could before that colorful niche of our history is gone forever.
I hope you’ll join us on these adventures!
#ExploringAbandonedMines
#MineExploring
#AbandonedMines
#UndergroundMineExploring
Discovery Chanel should ditch Oak Island and ask you guys to start filming your progress here. If I hear the name "Dave Blankenship" one more time I'm going to rage.
Loved the little stope stairs! Can't say I've ever seen those before, not even in any archival photos. Thanks for sharing another epic adventure.
Ebenezer. QAM.
A dollar in 1920 is worth between $13 to $16 today depending on source so $32 an ounce then is $480 today so to answer your thoughts, "Hell yes" its worth it to process old ore.
Good stuff!
It’s nice to see it coming along.
Beautiful vistas too!
Thanks a bunch TVR 🙏
Im curious on the overall operating costs in the mines current state, it’s amazing how much energy and effort go into even seeing if it’s worth processing ore etc.
Justin, at the current spot price of gold at 2,293.90 USD an ounce; it could surely pay well if you can hit a new vein.
We have hit several veins (more on that later). The issue is blocking them out and determining if they can be profitably worked... It's very, very expensive to put a mine into production with the regulations and permits required.
@@TVRExploring Yes, I know how detailed the regulations and laws dealing with hard rock mining in California can be. I do however enjoy seeing what you folks are doing; please do persevere with this project.
@@TVRExploring Not to mention finding somewhere to send the stuff. We've got a stope with most of the infrastructure in place (needs new ladders and a landing...somebody tied a couple steel ladders together and hung them off a split-set, that isn't going to fly) and quite a bit blocked out, but there isn't a mill in the area to handle it yet so there's no use mining it right now.
Love watching the mine update, we Really need more! Atleast 2 week Updates Pwetty Pwease! TVR Exploring! we all love seeing your mine footage and it's progression
Love these videos will be interesting to see the progress in a few years
Hope that pile of misc ore plays out for you guys. Close and easy to get.
Jason… to correct the issue with the flash light hot spot… Take A single paper towel loose over the lens of the flashlight a that will smooth out all of that out! If you want to do it correctly “Defusion gel” there are varying levels of defusion . I have sheets of it and you could cut a 6”X6” sheet and fold it up and keep it in your wallet…? or just use the cheap white paper towel ?👍👍👍
Thank you for the suggestions. I have good cameras and lights for underground work. That was an unplanned discovery that we noticed while driving to the mine. So, all I had on me at the time was my phone and a miner's light... That's a good idea about keeping the folded up sheet with me.
@@TVRExploring in a pinch the Paper towel will work . if you puff it up & move is a inch or so away from the flashlight lens it widens the light circumference!
Great videos, do you ever take a metal detector or at least a pinpointer and check some of the areas?
Hey Justin from the antipodes.
A hollow rock screw 3" pipe end into that drill hole and then a Valve would give connection to another water supply to the mine. Be interesting to get a water test done on it as well, if good you could bottle it as mountain spring water!😁😎
I really love following the proces of mining.. Great documentation guys..
Thank you. Glad you're enjoying these...
enough water to bottle local area gold water! best get it assayed, seriously. i know of one mine where the manager installed an electrolysis unit on the mine water outfall, made a bundle from it
I've never heard of anything like that before... That's pretty innovative.
Seen old copper mines where the ore played and they were full of water .
The water was highly acidic and full of copper from all the copper sulfides .
Anything iron or steel left in the water would precipitate copper metal onto the iron without needing any electricial current .
WITH an El trial current , it might have been profitable assuming a ready supply of cheap power and scrap metal .
That ending 🤣
YAAAYYY MORE MINING!!!
How close are you to full on being open for the season?
With that much flow and pressure out of that vein of water, you might consider putting it to work either as a suction feed to suck more water out of the mine, a source for water for the drills, or hooking up a small generator to it to use to power LED lights in the mine.. One of my fears would be either hitting a flow so strong it floods out the mine, or a thermally hot water feed that is near boiling.
Looks like you'll need to put a pipe system on that water and run the pipeing out the portal for now. Dang! Lots of "snags" that can be hit when starting up a mine....huh? Much success to you all.
looks like a promising little mine that. I wonder what happened that it didnt get further
Hi Justin. Hope all is well with you and yours. Sucks that you're having issues with your slusher. Is mucking out where you've blasted with a slusher instead of laying rail and using an actual mucker because the drifts are more exploratory? Will you only lay rail if you'll be getting into an ore body where you'll need to start hauling it out?
That ending 😭 looks like you guys hit an underground river!
That was just one of many, many core drill holes! That mountain has a lot of water in it...
@@TVRExploring I hope the water leak eventually slowed for you guys, I bet you will probably find more old abandoned mines all over that mountain and area where you guys are working overtime.
love this series mate, if you can put more videos of it its the most awsome series arround. Keep up the great job
Why did you knock the plug out of the core hole? To put a better plug in?
For fun...
@@TVRExploringHeh, housekeeping... that's how you clean the adit, right?
On a serious note though, with that quantity of water flowing through strained rock it makes me wonder if over the eons it's picked up any flake and deposited it lower in the mountain. Be a hell of a thing trying to chase a water fault in a subterranean space though... difficult to impossible because, well, water.
Wheeeeee!
The water coming out is that something you all an make use of or how does that work in a mine? I know in a previous video it looked like you all tapped it for using in the core drill I thought
Might be good to go over that possible ore over waste rock with a metal detector.
looks like you unplugged a lake or a river..
That mountain has a lot of water in it. That plug we knocked out was from just one of many, many core drill holes.
Love seeing the progress here. Question though, IF my bearings are correct regarding location inside the mine, it appears as tho you're drilling under that upper level you shared in a previous video. Is it possible you've run into some of the fractures below that flooded portion of the upper level? The distances seem to be roughly close, again if my bearings are right(which would also correspond to the level of quartz in the core sample shown with what was in the video).
Best of luck, don't get flooded out!
Every time you post the work you are doing at the mine I am reminded you guys do some of the most labor intensive work there is. I cannot imagine what it would be like working by carbide lamp, or candles, using primitive tools...
You got enough flow to feed a fair sized sluice there .
Love these updates!
Those stairs were really cool!
Thanks for sharing 🇨🇦
Thank you. Yes, I'm sorry that I didn't have a better light and camera with me at the time in order to showcase them better.
@@TVRExploring considering I'm stuck in Ontario, Canada with nothing to explore, I will happily take less than ideal lighting over no video at all!!! Thanks again!
14:25 This reminds of the TV Show, The Curse of Oak Island! They are over 100 feet down, and the water started flooding the vertical shaft.
We have hundreds of gallons a minute pouring out of the mine - even before we knock any of the plugs out of the many, many core drill holes...
@@TVRExploring They have Dumas Mining as a partner. Early on, they had water trickling in, so they injected an expandable foam. Now the water is so bad, and late in the season, they decided to pump out the water at the 40 foot level and do horizontal drilling. They need permits from Canada to do anything! Red Tape!
@alansmith4734 Interesting. That one has been a mystery for so long, it'd be nice to finally see it solved. There are so many things standing in the way of anyone trying to do anything these days.
Oh guys 🤩 love ya! Geeze just like the miners from the very beginning digging. What a view boys!
I bet draining all that water from that drill hole will help dry out some of the rest of the mine.
When you cause dramatic shifts in the water table like that, have you ever heard sounds like you did in that one Russian mine 4ish years back?
Yes, it definitely made some of the other workings much more dry. We haven't heard any sounds connected to that though... However, of course, we're not at the mine all of the time and so could have missed something.
@@TVRExploring Fair enough, although that gives me an idea for an interesting experiment. Just put a camera in there recording over night and see what kind of sounds you might capture when no-one is there. Could hear those shifts in the water table, potential rockfalls/shifts, etc.
Thats ALOT of water, probably from the snowmelt
Hello from the Pleasant Valley Mining District, EDCO.
Thanks for sharing! I was so disappointed when the video ended abruptly with the artesian well.
Hi Jason, Wednesday night treat yor me another TVR video. Love watching the progress you are making in this mine, very hard work but i hope it pays off. Beautiful scenery as well. Thank you for all your hard work & keeping us entertained. ❤😊👍
u need a pulley in back to keep back rope off ground. also, i just use dyna bolts in face to hold block.
13:30 dang man, looks like someone hit your water main! That's gonna be an expensive fix!
Seriously though, great video, I really hope this mine gets to a point where it at least pays for itself!
Jason come on fella who you kidding? That ain't strong water flow!! Use a empty plastic drink bottle to plug hole...come on son its easy fix once I plugged twice the pressure once with just candle wax I dripped it into the hole while I held my 3 week old new born, oh and we were 700feet under ground with no lights......so yeah I'm the man!!
Cool as always!
Want to see where that water is coming from & how you could use it!
A video full of surprises, and there is a lot off water coming out wow.
Hope you have fun again soon Justin. Thanks again for sharing.
Cool stuff justin is the vid older lots snow up there when i was in the area
any gold ? or do you just like drilling holes ?
Can ya say flood. Snow water ouch
That's an old one, awesome explore!!!
Good afternoon from Southeast South Dakota
Love your videos. Keep it up!
Why the fuck would you intentionally flood it?
If you've watched the other videos, you know that there are hundreds of gallons a minute flowing out of the mine. If the water doesn't come from here (an abandoned core drilling chamber), it seeps in from somewhere else. It's all the same in the end.
So, it's fun to see what happens when you knock out a plug.
@@TVRExploring crazy. So… why not just strip mine the whole area? They must have missed a lot. Grind the whole thing down?
Because the regulators would NEVER approve the permits for that... @@iralas
And the whole point of this operation was to access the historical workings, not to delete the mountain.
What are you chasing in the edit? Or are you going to where you drilled that core?
I'm not sure what you're asking me?
@@TVRExploring You showed a drilling core, came that from the edit you showed with all the muck? and are you now chasing the quarts that showed in that core?
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