Alaskan Winter Mineshaft: Gold Mining/Prospecting in the Interior of Alaska - Part 5
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- Опубликовано: 29 фев 2024
- Welcome to Part 5 of our mineshaft dig! This week we saw a higher volume of colors in the pan (still very small pieces) and digging continued as normal until we reached an unfortunate obstacle at the bottom of the hole. Stay tuned for Part 6 to see how we deal with this new obstacle!
Keywords: Gold, Gold mining, Mineshaft, Alaska, Prospecting, Gold Rush, Digging, Excavating, Permafrost, Tundra, Winter, Mine, Alaska Interior, Off Grid, Underground Prospecting, Underground
Hashtags: #gold #goldmining #mineshaft #goldrush #alaska #miners #undergroundprospecting #jackhammer #digging #prospecting #permafrost #tundra #winter #offgrid #underground 
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good job my brothers ....you will have to cut into the water table and the Gold will get bigger .....just need a good battery powered sump pump and dig a sump to collect it ....you can use the water for panning .... keep at it and be safe ...glad to see you put a ventilation fan in .... wait until you have to timber ...that will be the fun part
Wouldn't they have problems with water freezing during the week, if pumping only at weekends
Jeff, we get it. 😂
We are getting close to having to timber. The water is freezing during the week while we are gone and we have to jackhammer out the ice every weekend. It's going to become very problematic here shortly but we are going to keep trying different things and hope we can continue digging below the water table.
We wanted it to freeze but there is so much thermal mass in the water it just won't freeze to any depth. I have observed warm springs in this area that do not freeze all winter at the surface. Stay tuned.
Awesome 😎
Jeff Williams is one of the best mining geologists I have ever seen in my life.
I am so heavily invested in this series now, it's unhealthy. Keep going boys!
We'll keep trying, thank you! 💪
Finally got to catch up on the new uploads. Great progress fellas!
At least your not sofa prospectors , Well done !
Great job guys! Take the battery off of the generator and keep it from freezing between uses. Maybe consider covering the generator?
Good gold hunting guys!
Woot! More hole action!
this is my fav channel right now. They're the only 2 guys in the world on YT doing the same thing as me.
I am so proud of you boys! Following your dream and humble enough to bring us along for the journey with both ups and downs! Big hugs
You guys are hard core, I’m loving it!
love these videos!! love the ground-breaking work! no pun intended
Thanks, glad you enjoyed!
30 degrees !! Your in a tropical heat wave fella`s 🤣🤣⛏⛏⛏⛏ keep up the good work
Good work guys!
Good job guys! Fun to watch❤
Thank you!
Its cool stuff even Jeff Williams stopped by. Time to start dredging:0
great work
Somehow that whole off/on switch thing seems to make a little difference in how well a thing runs... [HOP HOP HOP!]
After reading some comments I gotta Say this is how the old timers did it by lighting a fire in the hole it melts ground making it easy to dig men took turns this is a great way pit mine
Tkzz for sharing,.,.peace
Nice AK in the cabin!
Thanks man! Gotta be prepared for whatever is lurking out there🥶
Suggestion. Dig in the center about 12 to 24 inches around. Go down 12 to 24 inches. Then work out to the wall. We always had the best luck in hard dirt or hard pan.
GOLD.!!
😆😆😆😆😆who’s Crazy NOW!!??👍🏻
When you speed up the panning process, it sounds just like alone time with my girlfriend 😂
thumbs down for the cold air ventilation, that gave me chills,
👍
Keep up the good work, hopefully the water doesn’t plague you. The old timers flooded out of many shafts. You cannot pump out the whole creek valley as you know.
I hope so too, going to keep trying until we can't anymore at least🙏
You can Use a cookingpot to fill with snow , drop the snowbrick Out and you can wall Up with snowbricks ... The more i think using a blanket to Cover the Generator IS a nice idear
I take it this is a winter only operation?
How does breakup and summer temps effect your operation?
Will you be able to continue next winter in the same hole once it freezes again?
How did you decide to dig there and is there a depth you are looking for?
you should keep a plastic tarp over the compressor. to protect it from ice etc. you need to let it warm up a bit too before cranking it. the same holds true for chainsaws.those things are too epensive to just Dohhhh! and why not disconect one of the lead to the batteries to avoid other issuesl ??
Getting closer to the pay streak! How far/deep will you need to reach for the payoff?
next time!
I wonder how much progress you guys could make with a Sierra Blaster. No explosive license needed and they are like 800 bucks. 🎉
Why not make a cowling to direct the warm exhaust from the generator onto a pan of snow to melt it? Just asking.
When will the snow start to melt ?
You guys need an auger bit waaay easier and faster digging.
Most batteries now come from China. And won't take all week in freezing Temps. They are supposed to be used every couple days in a recharge system.
you said you were going to show a pic of the gold, and no picture,
I would like to see some shoring. All sorts of things could cause a wall failure.
The walls are frozen solid, as hard as any concrete. No shoring is required. Shafts in frozen material hold their strength well and some from the early days have been found intact and without any water or sloughing. Shoring is only required in thawed material.
@@tylernelson276 I disagree with you and some have been found collapsed.
They only collapse when they are exposed to above freezing temperatures. It is currently -33F here and this shaft will not begin to thaw until well into spring and by then we will be long gone from this area. Keep in mind we are using a large jackhammer to dig with. Hopefully that gives you an idea of how solid the material is. There is a lot of good literature on digging in frozen ground. Look up the CRREL Permafrost Research Tunnel. No shoring needed and it was dug in the 1960s. Frozen solid. Cheers and happy digging.
@@tylernelson276 you keep justifying your poor choices. It’s still a free country. It would be sad if someone reported you to the Mine Safety Health Administration, msha for short then you might change your mind. I have a neighbor like you so I understand your logic.
This is your second shaft? I gotta ask, was it worth it on the first one?
Yes this is our second shaft. First one was twice as deep as we expected and the gold was very poor. This shaft is in a different valley, different creek, different characteristics. The first shaft was frozen solid all the way to bedrock. We did not expect to encounter water in this current shaft but there's no way to know in advance without digging.
Funny how most prospectors are trying to beat the season going into winter - it's the opposite for you guys.
Haha, yeah, we get bored up here in the winter!
It sure makes one apricate how much work the original mines here in Ak went through. The only option was doing everything by hand and hard work. I have met many Alaskan miners since we moved here in 1982. The one quality they all seem to possess is their work ethic and determination and focus. I really enjoy your videos and the effort you guys put in. @@AlaskaUnderground
unplug everything from the gennie next time. Should eliminate the parisitic draw.
Wouldn't the generator battery freeze being left outside?
No, only a dead battery will freeze. We have discovered it's not the battery, it's an issue with the cables.
Get yourselves a gas powered trash water pump or a sump pump if you're worried about water.
The issue with that is once they suck air they lose their prime. A submersible pump is the only way to continue.
Need cave in protection
It's frozen solid and does not need any shoring. Hard as concrete. The purpose of this shaft was to attempt to freeze our way down through thawed material.
If you guys have dug with an excavator, n know the ground. Why are you digging a shaft?
The excavator was unable to dig deeper than about 12ft and the water made digging extremely difficult. There is a ton of water flowing in the gravel section and our hope was to let the cold temps freeze the material at the water table as we dug down.
@@tylernelson276 absolutely awesome!! Love these videos! Nothing beats the old school way!
dislike for lack of promised picture
You guys are going to starve or freeze to death digging that far you should be coming up with some gold or move to another area
The gold around here is deep. We have not hit pay yet but it's down there. Stay tuned and hopefully we will be able to make it to the good stuff. We have day jobs, this is a side project for both of us. Nobody is going to starve here 😊
Heavies content looks poor to me. Keep at it till you call it.
I dont know what I'm talking about at all. But me sitting here thinking mining underground in Alaska surrounded by water would be terrifying.