Bringing An Abandoned Gold Mine Back To Life: Part 23 of ?
There’s a certain exotic appeal to working in the snow when the first storm of the season hits. That “appeal” wears off after a few minutes when the cold starts biting into you and the wind starts whipping through your always-damp clothing. I often say that the temperature is the same 55 degrees(ish) underground wherever you are in the world. Well, there’s an element in play here at this gold mine that changes that… The powerful blower that we use is blasting freezing air onto us underground. So, standing in the cold water flowing through the mine for hours, while freezing air is blasted over us can become a bit uncomfortable after a while.
Not that I’m complaining. I started my professional life working at an investment bank in London. I had the hot secretary, the open-ended expense account, the expensive client dinners, etc. So, I can speak to both sides. I’d take the work of a miner any day. Not just because of the work itself, but the camaraderie without the office politics, the absence of petty humiliations from demanding clients, the great feeling after hard physical work (like a good workout in the gym), the experience of something new every day - I could go on and on…
A viewer asked the other day what our intent with the core drilling is: We’re essentially drawing up a map of what is around us for several hundred feet in every direction underground without having to drill and blast our way through everything to find out. The core drilling allows us to map out serpentine veins, ore bodies and, most importantly for us, to see where the old workings are that are not on the newer maps we have of the mine. The old timers did a lot of work in the 1800s at our mine, but the maps from that time (if they ever existed) were lost long ago. So, there are large sections of Levels 1 and 2 that remain a mystery and even parts of Level 3 are unmapped and unexplored (Level 3 is the primary level where we are working and are what you see in almost every video). So, the core drilling gives us an idea of what we have and, with that knowledge, what is best to do with it.
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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
Пікірлер: 93
It's neat to read your backstory. I've been watching for many years and must've missed that. I have a contracting business and also work as an artist, so I get a mix of the "stand-up" and the "sit-down" lifestyles. I've always wondered at the fact that people go purposelessly exert effort at the gym when so many things could be done as work and exercise. Yes, it's dirtier, and you probably won't meet as many women in the mines or while chopping wood, but it's a damn sight better to be out and sweating than running in place staring at a wall. My professional opinion anyway...
@dirkhartman9572
5 ай бұрын
True
This series is so facinating! Don't quit your day job! 😂 Thanks Justin!
Neat to see the slusher in action!
@TVRExploring
5 ай бұрын
Tough to get it from that perspective, but back in the chamber there was a lot more room to get out of the way...
Good afternoon from Southeast South Dakota
@slimwantedman6694
5 ай бұрын
Been awhile since you have invited us to your mine
The mucking out from shots fired 90yrs ago made me smile - no point rushing into these jobs!
Always enjoy the mine updates! Thanks for sharing!
@5:25 Bacon Strip alley is looking good.
Hey Justin, Thanks for the update on your mine. Can't believe it's been 23 episodes, I was wondering if the slasher was going to fit. good going getting it done. Thanks again for the video and update
Core drilling is like a person who has vision issues, and his or her cane tells them roughly what is in their immediate surroundings . PS Y'all are running a big genset for your power supply correct. Then try this out to see if it helps to heat the fresh air supply inside the mine. You should be moving way more CFM's than the genset needs to move across the radiator, which means it shouldn't be a problem using the air flow from the intake side of your blower if you pipe it to the face of the radiator of genset Especially since it's colder than ya'll are outside. Just remove the fan blade from the genset, and surely you have someone that can make a shroud to connect to the face of the radiator. Make a solid panel on the face of it after you attach it to genset so that you can attach the ductwork from the intake of air supply fan housing, and make sure that you seal everything tight so you don't have any untreated air entering the ductwork from the radiator to the fan housing. This will allow the genset to maintain the proper temperature for it to operate safely with no problems. Plus it will pick up some heat from the radiator as the air is drawn through the radiator coils. Same as if it's a heater core in a truck, but if at all possible reduce the air velocity of the fan to the minimum safe requirement allowed. My guess is that y'all cranked up the fan, but never set the fan to run at any particular CFM, and just let it rip wherever it was at. But I'm sure there's a specific amount of fresh air changes required by the official department over mining industry So a good test and balance tech from a commercial hvac company can set your fan up to the proper CFM requirements, and adjust the static pressure to where it needs to be. That will probably lower the CFM's, and by lowering the velocity going through the radiator wil in turn allow the air flow to pickup even more heat transfer from the radiator. Thus providing ya'll to have at least slightly warmer air blowing out of the supply air ductwork inside the mine, and by lowering the air flow to the correct air flow requirements needed it will also reduce the several wind chill effects ya'll are suffering through at this time. Hopefully you read this, and find it useful information that you can use to improve the working conditions inside the mine. Take care and please be safe
Nice work TVR! This opening shot is great! 0:01
I like the slusher working .
An unsuspecting suggestion. I've found in shoveling 3 inch landscaping rock that an 8 or 10 tine pitch fork works very well to shovel into rock verses a regular shovel. Not helpful for the larger 6" or 10" material, but it does good on the 1" to 4" stuff. Then whats left is 1" minus which a regular shovel can dig through more efficiently. Glad to see this update. It's been a while.
Hell yeah. Always stoked to see updates on the mine. You guys are putting in the work so we're definitely happy to see the progress.
Thank you, I love updates on the mine!
Very scenic and interesting watching slusher
The joys of engineering on the fly. But you got the slusher in place and it's up and running. You've really brought things up to speed in a short time. Folks who haven't been saddled with working remotely don't realize how much you have McGuiver with what's available. Great job guys!
All quite interesting!! Do you all have any assays yet from core sample or is all effort going into getting into new drift territory? Looks like a hell of a lot of heavy, dusty and wet work in 2023 time frame. I can just imagine how arduous it must have been 90 years ago! Stay safe Justin and thanks for the update! 👍👍
So impressive. Would love to have a geology lesson on the deposit y’all are working.
Great view buddy
Woo hoo you're back!
Always great to see an update!
Captivating!!! Thanks for sharing 🇨🇦
Great to be back in the working mine again, 😊.
Awesome I have been waiting for a update to see how it's going ❤
Thank you for this view in the working process of the mine. Very hard work and dangerous too. But you see what you do and what it is worth . Today that is a rare Feeling . Stay save best wishes and Glück Auf Yours Frank Galetzka
I love you confidence the way you approach every mine and you working mine you seem to have a lot of experience dealing with all the issues you definitely have the no fear good stuff
Super cool video. Thank you.
Fun seeing the slusher and plugger. The chandelier installation segment cracked me up, hell yeah!
Great video guys!
never quit bubby
Love the chandelier. Every mine should have one.
@TVRExploring
5 ай бұрын
I agree completely.
Gods country. Wow. That’s quite a view. Gotta be a major perk of your interest in mines.
@TwoFingeredMamma
5 ай бұрын
If you think your in Gods country then why is it run by a bunch of Satanists who hide out in Masonic lodges?
6:40 what are some of the geology(?) criteria that are used to decide on rock bolts and chain link installations? At a very high level I imagine it's at least tied to the stability of the material.
Excellent again.👍
It's a while since I looked in, and you are still at it. There must be some good indicators for you to putting all this effort in!
You guys are making great progress! This is the first time I have seen a slusher set up and running, pretty cool! Nothing but hard work! Thanks Justin and Crew!
Hopefully getting those core sample will lead to something good. Cause drilling like that aint cheap, just like those 4x12s😮
Absolutely GORGEOUS view there!! Thanks for the update, been wondering how things were progressing. Am I correct that these new drifts are headed under the older, upper works?? Hoping my orientation/bearings are correct, going by previous vids.
@TVRExploring
5 ай бұрын
Yes, you're absolutely right. A gold star for you! The drift/drill station we just completed in this video ran roughly in the direction that Level 2 was running before we were stopped by the caved section. Coming in underneath allows us to see what conditions are like in the old workings behind that caved section and also to see about gold that the old timers might have missed near the old workings.
Good video. Id like to see how you anchored the slusher. We're only 20ft in now, and anchord ours on a big block, tied to an excavator outside. Need to come up with an idea, for when get in the mountain more.
I so much love this series!!! I love to see the pros at work, how it's done properly!!! I really wish all the effort pays off for you guys in the end!
Yessss! I've been missing this series! Thank you!
I miss mining. Always loved being underground. Mining is a tuff job tho.
@TVRExploring
3 ай бұрын
It certainly is!
Love the story, happy that you found some peace now with yourself and your work, sometimes the road to a good iob or good life is hard but its worth it
A lot off hard work too do too get somwere wow but you guys are doing a great job.
I wish you'd make your personal mine videos longer
Woohoo! More active mining videos! I'm excited for you guys to hit some good ore! Do you have maps for this mine? Any results from scanning down the drift and up the inclined shaft?
That chandelier in a mine is like t!ts on a bull😎👍
cool stuff I am enjoying seeing the actual mining getting going now, Is it ok to ask if you are assaying yet or are you still chasing the cores and seeing where they lead? Those squirrels must love you for taking them seed, Food like that in the snow is a huge deal. Have you accessed any knew bits of the old workings recently? I know questions ....Cool chandelier btw Thanks for sharing
Love these videos Justin!! It's awesome seeing what it takes to bring an old mine back to life!! But I really wish you guys would wear respirators or at least masks when drilling!! That dust is terrible to breathe!!
@TVRExploring
5 ай бұрын
It's nor dust. It's water vapor.
@DebrisBall420
5 ай бұрын
@@TVRExploring oh ok that's good... Good luck on the core drilling... Hope you guys hit the motherlode!!⛏️💰🪙
Another day, another dollar. 🤷♂️
Who knows you might get lucky just behind that there wall there might just be a big ole veiny gold vein
Missed you guys. Glad to see the new video. How long was the slusher run. Im glad you arent a fair weather miner who believes in things like termination dust
Hope all is well Justin, today marks 3 weeks without an upload.
@TVRExploring
5 ай бұрын
Just taking a break... There are a lot of projects running this month.
Mining work is so overrated, working in large areas and light material (speaking about the crusher problem here). Thank you for sharing.
Hi Justin. Is the core drilling station with the deck going to be punching into previously un-drilled rock or in a previously un-drilled direction? Or does it punch deeper in a direction that was already being followed? Such an interesting hunt for where to go next. Best of luck to you and your crew mates Justin. Thanks for the video.
@jamesthompson8008
5 ай бұрын
IF I'm oriented correctly, it looks as though they're going in the direction of the older, upper workings(refer to earlier videos). The difference being they're going in below them; remembering the amount of flooded area up there however, makes me wonder if that could be some of the sourcing of the water.
Wish I had a dime for every bolt Ihave put in
Please excuse my extreme ignorance. I have just recently started watching your channel and am finding it very interesting. The slusher looks like a complete waste of time along with laying track. Why not use a couple of the small stand-on Bobcat style loaders to scoop and transport the material? It seems like that would be cheaper, faster and far less labor intensive. I'm sure I'm missing something and if it were that simple, then the people who know something about mining would already be doing it.
@zaboomafoo409
5 ай бұрын
No Space in small track mining for such equipment to move, (drifts are 5x7') vehicles only work in very large modern mines which use LHDs(load haul dumps, google it if interested ). Also diesel exhaust creates another issue that requires greater ventilation to mitigate. Overall costs would be much greater.
@beardy4831
5 ай бұрын
There are some videos out there of Opal mining in Australia I believe. One of the crews out there have mini stand on loaders. I suspect they aren't cheap, and they do produce fumes though not a ton.
2’ bolts x 1 1/2” or 2” bits? Slusher pull into ore pass? What kinda signs in you cores??? Any scerptine??? Thanks for sites’!!! Small tuggers ???
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Definitely looks like hard work. How many hours a day do they put in. How far to where you stay at night. Thanks for detailed video
How much does it cost for the coring operation in each location they do? How many cores do they do at each location? How deep have each core gone? Did the previous operation some episodes ago produce any decent results? Thanks?
I like slushers
Wait, what? You haven't completely explored this mine? Why not? How not? Surely there aren't any gobbing or collapses you couldn't clear.
Also you explor all these mines do you think any of them have in value left in them?
Who is paying for all this? Can't be cheap!
Gosh dang, when you gonna mine some gold?
Where ya at? 3 weeks
At a point in time, probably when you are all rich, I may understand what you're doing.
Brent has WiFi in his mine how bout you? 😉
No videos for 3 weeks now, is he alright?
I miss working up there with you guys
@zaboomafoo409
5 ай бұрын
Too bad you were convicted of CA penal code 288(a), lewd and Lascivious acts with a child under 14. Your victims being your own nephews around age 7 and younger. Your prison sentence was not long enough. Everyone at the mine followed your trial and your aunt was very public about what happened. Only god can cure you of your incestual pedophilia and I hope you meet him sooner than later. You are one of the true monsters of this world Tyler Hinson Clatte. Enjoy being on the sex offender registry.
I don't see any quartz or signs of a vein. Just brown, featureless rock.
@TVRExploring
5 ай бұрын
That's what the core drilling is for and why we're building core drilling stations.
@jordanvandekraats6676
5 ай бұрын
@@TVRExploring i know next to nothing about mining but whats the point of building a core drilling station? Wouldn’t you want to keep core drilling as you move deeper in the mine?
Filter masks!!!
@TVRExploring
5 ай бұрын
It's water vapor, not dust.
Please wear masks!! Its not safe to breath that dust in
@TVRExploring
5 ай бұрын
It's not dust. It's water vapor.
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