Ha ! My mate asked me earlier what I was watching, and he snorted when I told him. But since then ..WE have been watching various of your explorations back to back, and now he loves it too. I thought this last one was scarily dilapidated. Thank you for your risk taking. From UK.
HAHA!!! That's really funny... Yes, there is something about mines that really tugs you in. I think the two videos in this series - especially the second one - are particularly good. This was a really amazing mine.
Thank you. Haha, sometimes what is required to get to these mines is worth a video by itself! I know you can relate given some of the hikes you have had to endure in order to get to some of the abandoned mines that you have explored.
Thank you, Frank. Ha, I've got a LOOOOOOOONNGG way to go though until I've caught up to the godfather of mine exploring. And I'll never have your narrator's voice...
Yes, I am 100% convinced that someone could do very well with modern metal detectors in these old drift mines. Many of these mines (and this one in particular) were forced to close by government decree during World War II and not because they ran out of gold. However, my knowledge of mining is limited to what I can learn from videos such as yours. I like to visit and to document these sites, but I don't know anything about how to actually work them for gold.
So then there are probably old mines where the guys never told anyone about it, & then they died in the war. (I also sometimes wonder how many of those old collapses have bones under them.)
That was one amazing explore! I would have loved to have done that one too. I do love all the timberwork in mines, even though knowing what they are there for, it makes for awesome photography the way the timber reflects on the water surface. The grey covering to the rocks is probably dust from drilling or blasting. It seems to stick to the rocks, if you notice the bits that come away reveal the true rock underneath the coating. All those levels = WOW! Roll on part 2! Good work!
Thank you! I would love to have had you along on this one... Yes, that's a good point about the dust covering the rocks and that is something that we especially see in hard rock mines where a lot of blasting took place. To further reinforce that suggestion, you don't see that coating in the upper levels of this mine where most of the work was done with a pick and shovel rather than by blasting. Oh, and I love the timbers inside of mines too... Timbers and tracks. Hardly and timbers or track on the upper levels here, but the upper workings are extremely impressive all the same.
impressive portal. That steel will last a long time. Most of the old mines have wooden portals which give way over time and we lose an entrance. Timbering was nice. Even for us modern miners with blasting and muckers and so on it's hard to comprehend how hard that must have been to do by hand. Those old miners were some touch hard working SOB's lol. Be safe guys
Yes, coming across mines that had wooden portals and have eroded shut is definitely the norm for us up in the mountains... It is a real shame when you consider the miles of intact adits behind collapsed portals that often just have covered up a few feet. You sure are right about how tough those old miners must have been. Just getting to some of these mines is an intense workout. It is hard to imagine spending hours breaking up and loading rocks on top of that!
Often it is not clear what was mined. Many of the older abandoned mines have no records, for example. In the part of California where we go exploring, it is ALWAYS gold. Nevada, Italy, etc. are more mixed. Silver and tungsten are pretty safe guesses in Nevada though.
I know this is an old video but I thought to ask is it ever the case the mine itself is contaminated by Mercury use to capture gold or just the sluice areas and waste piles?
+ TVR - THANKS, nice find, great explore. Interesting how they had to dig that all out by hand (no blasting holes) as the ground is too friable to use explosives. Also interesting how they cut those round timbers in the "Square Sett" configuration for the joints, - don't see that too often. - < Doc - Retired. Miner for nearly 50 years > .
Yes, it is amazing how much material was taken out of this mine with just a pick and shovel... There are some pretty amazing examples of pick work in Part 2 that I think you will like, especially a massive corridor that stretched for thousands of feet and where the pick marks are extremely evident. I'm glad you noticed that rather unique configuration for the timbers. I was going to comment on that in the video, but got distracted and forgot to do so. Thanks for watching and commenting.
You're right it's a cool mines. I am a adit addict now. I still have my dad's old miners hat with the carbide lamp. I wouldn't take a million dollars for it. The community I live in was a mining town once. Sadly the mines closed and the people left for the most part
Yes, the timbers were pretty cool in this one... If you want to see really, really impressive timbers, check out the Winter Sun Mine video on this channel. And a big thank you to our Norwegian friends for watching and commenting!
Thank you! We see some very strange things underground. So, it really wouldn't surprise me very much to see a putty cat in the rock formations... Or who knows what else!
Great video, will watch part 2 now, are you using some sort of gimbal for your camera as looks very smove as you pan around, what torch do you use? We explore mines in west cornwall UK. Have hundreds here.
Thank you! I actually use two torches. One rechargeable that I have attached to my helmet (the HL8R) and also a handheld (the HP 550)... They are both by Coast because I really like the adjustable focus that Coast has on its lights. In other words, I can easily shift between a spotlight to focus on something in the distance or floodlight to gently illuminate the area around me without providing too harsh of a glare for the camera. All it takes is simply sliding the head of the torch, which I can do with two fingers while I'm filming. Also, yes, I have started including videos filmed with a gimbal. I'm glad you can see the difference with it because it is a pain scrambling through the mines with it sometimes. It weighs more than the camera I use and so whether I use it or not depends directly on how far the hike to the mine is. I do try to bring it though because I can really see the difference when I am editing the videos. You certainly do have a lot of mines in Cornwall... I remember hiking along the coast and just seeing mine after mine after mine along the sea cliffs. It was amazing to me. We actually have quite a history with the Cornish miners in Northern California as it was the miners from Cornwall that taught everyone out here about hard rock mining during California's famous "Gold Rush" era.
I love the color of the rocks and that water looks so clear and clean you could drink it. I don’t think it be wise, don’t know what minerals or toxins are present
You have sharp eyes, my friend. Yes, I noticed the rails in the cribbing at the portal when I was editing the video, but not at the time. In the upper levels, the rail is almost entirely intact, but sections of it are hidden under mud or rocks. Oh, and, yes, this mine wildly exceeded my expectations.
It's a profound find, to say the least. If you ever go back I'd like to tag along, if that's OK with you. I'm still waiting for the snow to melt in Alpine County. There are a few sites (well known) I want to check out, and one I found several years ago that I never properly explored (I think you've been to it already, with Chuck). Was the country rock in there limestone? It has the tell-tale 'chunky' look and probably the right color, but it's hard to tell.
The thought of returning and finishing exploring this one is exhausting for now, but I'm sure I'll get over that. Yes, I'll definitely let you know of any return visits... We're still getting blocked by the snow in many of our favorite areas as well. We've never explored up in Alpine County though. I'm sure there is some good stuff up there though. No, I don't believe the rock inside of this mine was limestone. The dark layer is bedrock and the rest is mostly composed of a mix of sand, gravel and cobble.
Have you thought that maybe within the collapsed placer some gold may still be had, Suggest taking a pin pointer along with ya. Nothing this interesting where I live or even nearby: thanks for sharing your explorations.
Yes, there is absolutely still a lot of gold in these old mines. A few of them were played out, but most were forced to shut down during World War I and World War II. With the miners scattered and the mines damaged by their years of inactivity, most of these mines didn't reopen when the wars concluded. In other words, they were forced to close by outside circumstances and not because they didn't contain gold. To address your question more specifically, the river rocks scattered around on the floor have been picked over pretty carefully and so it is unlikely they have much gold. However, the collapses and the walls/ceilings still have a lot of gold in them as these parts of the ancient river channels have not been worked over. Thank you for watching and commenting. I'm glad you enjoy the videos...
yes we did and me and Slim got so excited when we saw that upper level that we just about come unglued. We know exactly where and how to get the Gold out of there.
I just about came unglued myself in that one... The long hallway in particular impressed me as, aside from its size, I have never seen anything like that in a placer drift mine before. It is probably a good thing that Slim didn't come unglued as it doesn't seem like there is that much holding him together.
@@TVRExploring I was curious to this as well. What's 2 years among friends! lololol Those walls/floors where the placer is low would be wonderful to explore as Jeff mentioned. Great vids, love watching the exploration.
Thank you very much. I appreciate the feedback (and I'm glad it's positive). Yes, this was definitely a gold mine. I reviewed the history of this mine and did not see reference to any other ores being mined here. With a placer mine, such as this one, the only ore that normally is obtained is gold given the manner in which it is extracted. With a hard rock mine, it is far more common to encounter other valuable minerals.
It's interesting. Here, in Europe, the first rule of exploring is that you definitely Don't (!) do it alone. Is it an American thing born out of the vastness of the country that you have to explore alone because of the scale? The ratio of exploring opportunities to the number of would-be explorers is so much greater than in our crowded continent? 'Respect!' to your spirit!
Well, in the States too, it is advisable to go with someone else and that is definitely my preference. Unfortunately, it is often difficult to find someone willing to come along on these adventures. The explorer to opportunity ratio you mentioned means that a lot of sites are undisturbed when they are in remote locations like this... That said, Europe has some great abandoned mines too. In fact, some of the very best I have ever visited have been in Europe.
Ive always wanted to explore a mine there are some in the mountains near me but the only ones that ive seen are small and it looks like you would have to crawl through them no idea how old they are
If the mines you found are as small as you described, they're probably pretty old... I don't know how much traffic they get, but there could be some interesting stuff inside.
Haha, plenty of people do mine the green gold in that area, but not at this mine as far as I am aware... Your comment prompted me to go back and look at the video and they really do look like weed plants at first glance, don't they?
Someone told me that it did, in fact, collapse a few months later... If true, that would indicate that your instincts were entirely correct and that mine were a tad optimistic.
Surprisingly, I haven't yet. Ha, having said that though, I'm probably going to get a nail through my foot in the very next mine... My main exploring buddy got a nail through his waders last year (which didn't do anything good for them).
We see small amounts of gold inside the walls of placer mines from time to time and also occasionally in the waste rock or ore of hard rock mines. I'm talking about pretty insignificant amounts though... The old timers were pretty sharp and I don't think they missed much. We are not miners by any stretch of the imagination, however, and so I'm sure we could well be overlooking a fair amount of gold in these old mines, but we can at least tell the difference between gold and pyrite.
Oh, and there are some outstanding examples of breasting on those upper levels - something you and I are always reading about, but never seem to get to actually see. Very interesting stuff...
I can't get over the ammount of work that went into these old mines. Those old timers moved mountains looking for the yellow metal. Amazing.
Ha ! My mate asked me earlier what I was watching, and he snorted when I told him. But since then ..WE have been watching various of your explorations back to back, and now he loves it too. I thought this last one was scarily dilapidated. Thank you for your risk taking. From UK.
HAHA!!! That's really funny... Yes, there is something about mines that really tugs you in. I think the two videos in this series - especially the second one - are particularly good. This was a really amazing mine.
Nice video, loved your reaction to that bridge haha!
Thank you. Haha, sometimes what is required to get to these mines is worth a video by itself! I know you can relate given some of the hikes you have had to endure in order to get to some of the abandoned mines that you have explored.
Congratulations on obtaining 1000 subscribers! You're well on your way….
Thank you, Frank. Ha, I've got a LOOOOOOOONNGG way to go though until I've caught up to the godfather of mine exploring. And I'll never have your narrator's voice...
you really need to bring a Gold Bug 2 with a 6 inch coil and I guarantee you will find Gold in those drift mines.
Yes, I am 100% convinced that someone could do very well with modern metal detectors in these old drift mines. Many of these mines (and this one in particular) were forced to close by government decree during World War II and not because they ran out of gold. However, my knowledge of mining is limited to what I can learn from videos such as yours. I like to visit and to document these sites, but I don't know anything about how to actually work them for gold.
If you come across a mine that you would like us to explore with you while hunting the Shiney we would love to go ( time permitting )
Absolutely. Good company is definitely welcome on our trips. I'll get into that a bit more when I respond to your email message.
So then there are probably old mines where the guys never told anyone about it, & then they died in the war. (I also sometimes wonder how many of those old collapses have bones under them.)
@@Askjeffwilliams be nice to Know if you guys met up and you manage to find anything many thanks John United Kingdom
This is the first mine I’ve seen where they were following a vein of conglomerate. Very interesting...
Thank you 😊 love watching mine explores
Thank you for coming along!
That was one amazing explore! I would have loved to have done that one too. I do love all the timberwork in mines, even though knowing what they are there for, it makes for awesome photography the way the timber reflects on the water surface.
The grey covering to the rocks is probably dust from drilling or blasting. It seems to stick to the rocks, if you notice the bits that come away reveal the true rock underneath the coating. All those levels = WOW! Roll on part 2! Good work!
Thank you! I would love to have had you along on this one... Yes, that's a good point about the dust covering the rocks and that is something that we especially see in hard rock mines where a lot of blasting took place. To further reinforce that suggestion, you don't see that coating in the upper levels of this mine where most of the work was done with a pick and shovel rather than by blasting. Oh, and I love the timbers inside of mines too... Timbers and tracks. Hardly and timbers or track on the upper levels here, but the upper workings are extremely impressive all the same.
Blue gravel. A fine telltale of high grade gravel.
impressive portal. That steel will last a long time. Most of the old mines have wooden portals which give way over time and we lose an entrance. Timbering was nice. Even for us modern miners with blasting and muckers and so on it's hard to comprehend how hard that must have been to do by hand. Those old miners were some touch hard working SOB's lol. Be safe guys
Yes, coming across mines that had wooden portals and have eroded shut is definitely the norm for us up in the mountains... It is a real shame when you consider the miles of intact adits behind collapsed portals that often just have covered up a few feet. You sure are right about how tough those old miners must have been. Just getting to some of these mines is an intense workout. It is hard to imagine spending hours breaking up and loading rocks on top of that!
I like it when you point out what they were digging for. I often wonder.
Often it is not clear what was mined. Many of the older abandoned mines have no records, for example. In the part of California where we go exploring, it is ALWAYS gold. Nevada, Italy, etc. are more mixed. Silver and tungsten are pretty safe guesses in Nevada though.
well Damn! that was definitly cool, A big thumbs up to you sir! cant wait till P2.
Thank you very much! I don't like to make assumptions, but I think you'll like Part 2.
Really nice colours in this mine :-)
Yes, some of the colors of the minerals in mines are amazing. I'm glad I'm not the only one that appreciates those :)
I know this is an old video but I thought to ask is it ever the case the mine itself is contaminated by Mercury use to capture gold or just the sluice areas and waste piles?
+ TVR - THANKS, nice find, great explore. Interesting how they had to dig that all out by hand (no blasting holes) as the ground is too friable to use explosives. Also interesting how they cut those round timbers in the "Square Sett" configuration for the joints, - don't see that too often. - < Doc - Retired. Miner for nearly 50 years > .
Yes, it is amazing how much material was taken out of this mine with just a pick and shovel... There are some pretty amazing examples of pick work in Part 2 that I think you will like, especially a massive corridor that stretched for thousands of feet and where the pick marks are extremely evident. I'm glad you noticed that rather unique configuration for the timbers. I was going to comment on that in the video, but got distracted and forgot to do so. Thanks for watching and commenting.
You're right it's a cool mines. I am a adit addict now. I still have my dad's old miners hat with the carbide lamp. I wouldn't take a million dollars for it. The community I live in was a mining town once. Sadly the mines closed and the people left for the most part
Nice mine like the timber setting. waiting for part 2 :)
Yes, the timbers were pretty cool in this one... If you want to see really, really impressive timbers, check out the Winter Sun Mine video on this channel. And a big thank you to our Norwegian friends for watching and commenting!
Hello Great explore I thought I saw a putty cat at about 11:04 under the ladder and other things in the rock formations. Thanks for the ride.
Thank you! We see some very strange things underground. So, it really wouldn't surprise me very much to see a putty cat in the rock formations... Or who knows what else!
Great video, will watch part 2 now, are you using some sort of gimbal for your camera as looks very smove as you pan around, what torch do you use? We explore mines in west cornwall UK. Have hundreds here.
Thank you! I actually use two torches. One rechargeable that I have attached to my helmet (the HL8R) and also a handheld (the HP 550)... They are both by Coast because I really like the adjustable focus that Coast has on its lights. In other words, I can easily shift between a spotlight to focus on something in the distance or floodlight to gently illuminate the area around me without providing too harsh of a glare for the camera. All it takes is simply sliding the head of the torch, which I can do with two fingers while I'm filming. Also, yes, I have started including videos filmed with a gimbal. I'm glad you can see the difference with it because it is a pain scrambling through the mines with it sometimes. It weighs more than the camera I use and so whether I use it or not depends directly on how far the hike to the mine is. I do try to bring it though because I can really see the difference when I am editing the videos. You certainly do have a lot of mines in Cornwall... I remember hiking along the coast and just seeing mine after mine after mine along the sea cliffs. It was amazing to me. We actually have quite a history with the Cornish miners in Northern California as it was the miners from Cornwall that taught everyone out here about hard rock mining during California's famous "Gold Rush" era.
Dangerous but extremely awesome to watch. Only live once eh!
I love the color of the rocks and that water looks so clear and clean you could drink it. I don’t think it be wise, don’t know what minerals or toxins are present
The tailings were there, you just did not look close enough. Awesome old mine!
Outstanding mine. It looks like the missing rails in the first section of the adit were used as part of the cribbing at the portal.
You have sharp eyes, my friend. Yes, I noticed the rails in the cribbing at the portal when I was editing the video, but not at the time. In the upper levels, the rail is almost entirely intact, but sections of it are hidden under mud or rocks. Oh, and, yes, this mine wildly exceeded my expectations.
It's a profound find, to say the least. If you ever go back I'd like to tag along, if that's OK with you.
I'm still waiting for the snow to melt in Alpine County. There are a few sites (well known) I want to check out, and one I found several years ago that I never properly explored (I think you've been to it already, with Chuck).
Was the country rock in there limestone? It has the tell-tale 'chunky' look and probably the right color, but it's hard to tell.
The thought of returning and finishing exploring this one is exhausting for now, but I'm sure I'll get over that. Yes, I'll definitely let you know of any return visits... We're still getting blocked by the snow in many of our favorite areas as well. We've never explored up in Alpine County though. I'm sure there is some good stuff up there though. No, I don't believe the rock inside of this mine was limestone. The dark layer is bedrock and the rest is mostly composed of a mix of sand, gravel and cobble.
Great video please be carefull looks like a lot of gold left in this one.
Thank you. Yes, I am sure there is a lot of gold left in this one... Wait until you see what the upper levels look like!
Dude... I admire your courage!
That is one impressive mine!
It blew me away. I was not expecting this at all... And wait until you see the upper levels!
Looking forward to it!
That aluminum ladder you saw early on was upside down. Flat spot was pointing down on rungs. Must have been left before the collapse
If I noticed that at the time, I don't remember. Curious...
Have you thought that maybe within the collapsed placer some gold may still be had, Suggest taking a pin pointer along with ya. Nothing this interesting where I live or even nearby: thanks for sharing your explorations.
Yes, there is absolutely still a lot of gold in these old mines. A few of them were played out, but most were forced to shut down during World War I and World War II. With the miners scattered and the mines damaged by their years of inactivity, most of these mines didn't reopen when the wars concluded. In other words, they were forced to close by outside circumstances and not because they didn't contain gold. To address your question more specifically, the river rocks scattered around on the floor have been picked over pretty carefully and so it is unlikely they have much gold. However, the collapses and the walls/ceilings still have a lot of gold in them as these parts of the ancient river channels have not been worked over. Thank you for watching and commenting. I'm glad you enjoy the videos...
The water from the entrance must be 6 to 9 inches deep judging by the sound!
kind of curious where this one might be located.
I'll send you a private message... Did you check out the upper section? It's one of the most impressive mines I have been in.
yes we did and me and Slim got so excited when we saw that upper level that we just about come unglued. We know exactly where and how to get the Gold out of there.
I just about came unglued myself in that one... The long hallway in particular impressed me as, aside from its size, I have never seen anything like that in a placer drift mine before. It is probably a good thing that Slim didn't come unglued as it doesn't seem like there is that much holding him together.
Ask Jeff Williams come jeff letssss goooooo show us how its done mate!!! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻😬
@@TVRExploring I was curious to this as well. What's 2 years among friends! lololol Those walls/floors where the placer is low would be wonderful to explore as Jeff mentioned. Great vids, love watching the exploration.
I really like your videos and how they are produced. My guess is this is a gold mine but were other ores mined there?
Thank you very much. I appreciate the feedback (and I'm glad it's positive). Yes, this was definitely a gold mine. I reviewed the history of this mine and did not see reference to any other ores being mined here. With a placer mine, such as this one, the only ore that normally is obtained is gold given the manner in which it is extracted. With a hard rock mine, it is far more common to encounter other valuable minerals.
It's interesting. Here, in Europe, the first rule of exploring is that you definitely Don't (!) do it alone.
Is it an American thing born out of the vastness of the country that you have to explore alone because of the scale? The ratio of exploring opportunities to the number of would-be explorers is so much greater than in our crowded continent? 'Respect!' to your spirit!
Well, in the States too, it is advisable to go with someone else and that is definitely my preference. Unfortunately, it is often difficult to find someone willing to come along on these adventures. The explorer to opportunity ratio you mentioned means that a lot of sites are undisturbed when they are in remote locations like this... That said, Europe has some great abandoned mines too. In fact, some of the very best I have ever visited have been in Europe.
Is that iron pyrite on top the mud in the water at 20:53? Thx.
It was a while ago that I visited this one and so I can't remember what that was, I'm afraid.
that bridge should of filmed the fear factor , I'm would of passed..lol
Ive always wanted to explore a mine there are some in the mountains near me but the only ones that ive seen are small and it looks like you would have to crawl through them no idea how old they are
If the mines you found are as small as you described, they're probably pretty old... I don't know how much traffic they get, but there could be some interesting stuff inside.
TVR Exploring someone barred them off unfortunately
Ah, probably the BLM or the Forest Service... That is a very common problem, unfortunately.
LOL for a moment I thought those mimosa pudica at 30s were weed plants.
Haha, plenty of people do mine the green gold in that area, but not at this mine as far as I am aware... Your comment prompted me to go back and look at the video and they really do look like weed plants at first glance, don't they?
0:01 I have to drive over this bridge. I wouldn't even walk over that. It looks like it could collapse at any moment.
Someone told me that it did, in fact, collapse a few months later... If true, that would indicate that your instincts were entirely correct and that mine were a tad optimistic.
Jeezus you ever stepped a nail when mucking through all those debris? That would be my biggest fear
Surprisingly, I haven't yet. Ha, having said that though, I'm probably going to get a nail through my foot in the very next mine... My main exploring buddy got a nail through his waders last year (which didn't do anything good for them).
Have you ever found any gold in your explorations?
We see small amounts of gold inside the walls of placer mines from time to time and also occasionally in the waste rock or ore of hard rock mines. I'm talking about pretty insignificant amounts though... The old timers were pretty sharp and I don't think they missed much. We are not miners by any stretch of the imagination, however, and so I'm sure we could well be overlooking a fair amount of gold in these old mines, but we can at least tell the difference between gold and pyrite.
This looks like a Skyrim mine.
Well.........you weren't shit'n me that's fosho
Never that! Haha, wait until you see some of what is up above...
Oh, and there are some outstanding examples of breasting on those upper levels - something you and I are always reading about, but never seem to get to actually see. Very interesting stuff...
TVR Exploring I'm always down for interesting!
You have done an admirable job of demonstrating that over the years.
TVR Exploring HA!
No hair how many hairs have you
got wet shoes? try some boots