Awesome Mine Perched On The Edge Of A Cliff
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- Опубліковано 12 вер 2023
- This abandoned mine had little trouble ending up on the “favorites” list. The setting was awesome. The layout of the underground workings was quite interesting. It delivered with the interesting artifacts left behind. I even loved the miner’s trail that I discovered on the way down. And great aesthetics on top of all that? Yes, I’m into it. Sign me up for more.
This was primarily a lead and zinc mine (we’ve had very good results with those types of mines over the years) with copper, silver and gold as bonus secondary minerals.
There is surprisingly little historical information on this mine in the public domain. What I did locate stated that the ore body was discovered in 1901. Apparently, a large amount of work was done in 1911 and again in 1919. However, there are no records available past 1919. What we saw inside of the mine though strongly suggests that work was done at this abandoned mine as recently as the 1950s. I am, of course, referring to the dates written with the carbide lamps, but also to the equipment that we found underground.
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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
Geologist and mineral collector of 40 years. The mineral at 21:42 is galena, not covellite. Galena has a faint violet blue colour and in large masses like this, and especially when a little weathered, it can take on a silvery bluish violet cast. The parent rock looks like limestone, or a marble, which is a typical host of galena. On the other hand covellite (Copper Sulfide) occurs in the enriched zone of copper deposits. If it were covellite there would be a lot of bright green and blue secondary copper mineralisation in the mine, especially in any wet areas e.g., blue copper sulfate (chalcanthite) would coat the walls. However., when Lead ore weathers it not colourful, just white, greys and sometimes black (platternite, cerussite, sometimes anglesite) and maybe some rusty colours from weathered pyrite and rarely minimum or litharge (Lead oxide, red lead). Galena sometimes contains a little silver, so it's likely they were trying to extract silver from the galena i.e. it was a silver mine. 32:05 might be barite. 34:40 might be low oxygen, weathered sulfides and sometimes rusting metal in old mines can remove oxygen from the air. Could also be a CO2 build up. Weathering of sulfides is exothermic, generates heat. You should get a confined space gas detector, if you don't have one already, they are not expensive.
Wow! Great explanation! Thank you very much for sharing and enlightening us with your knowledge 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👍🏽
You're holding an old Cylinder Head Gasket. Likely for a flat head 4 cylinder engine like the one out on the waste rock pile. Those were L Head design engines like your Briggs and Stratton Lawnmower Engines. These however are water cooled. They utilized either a Boil Off type or closed type with a fan and Radiator. Low RPM, lots of torque, and normally designed to run at a fixed RPM.
Lunkenheimer was founded by Frederick Lunkenheimer in Cincinnati in 1862-1994. Originally called the Cincinnati Brass Works, they manufactured parts for steamboats and military equipment. Later on the company branched out to providing parts for both the automobile and airplane industries. 🇨🇦
just home from work and this lands in my lap! what a lucky boy i am!
My Grandpa was a copper miner, and liked Hills Bros Coffee. I have several cans like that. And some prince Albert tobacco tins
Thank you for taking all these risks to document mining history! It is valuable for future generations to learn about how our country used to do things.
Yes, I absolutely agree. That's the exact reason that I started doing these videos.
Love the California Red Barrel cacti all around the mine site! Awfully far from your usual stomping grounds!
Oh goodie, a mine with miney mine things!
Lunkenheimer made whistles and valves for old steam engines.
That is a model A Ford engine and head gasket. They were made from 1928 through 1931
Happy days when TVR drops!
Thanks a bunch 🙏
Great to see a lot of artifacts still in the mine...........Good job...............JB.
The amount of backbreaking work that goes into mining hard rock by hand is phenomenal. The generations of men who dug that and others before we will never see agin here in America. That is what once made America the best country on Earth.
That is sadly accurate.
Bunch of guys really worked their asses off in there hope they did well.
When men were Men and women were???
nothing like a good ole gas motor underground...... really boosts morale and productivity 😊
Lunkenheimer Valves - “The one great name in valves” - are known for more than 160 years, serving the oil, gas and power industries. Lunkenheimer Company was founded in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1862. Its foundry is in continuous operations ever since.
You made a comment about the shape of the box. The fuse was laid in the box in a coil. The box's top has been cut away. But the fuse would be pulled from the top.of the box, to whatever length they needed then cut to fit the charge pattern/profile accordingly. The top of the box had a hole likely with a copper, wood or some other non-sparking material as a grommet to allow the fuse to be withdrawn from the coil easily. This was likely a box of the green safety fuse like you can currently purchase for the manufacture of Fireworks.
I think you really found a dwarven mine! Everything is so low!
Wow. What a way to make a living that was !!! Makes me appreciate my cozy , retired life !!
The countryside reminds me of The Treasure of The Sierra Madre starring Humphrey Bogart.
That was a really nice mine!
Thanks for sharing 🇨🇦
That engine appears to be a Model A Ford engine. Four cyl. 200 Cubic inch. Plentiful and cheap. 1928 thru 1931. The piston/rod assy. is inserted inverted with what looks to be a bent con. rod. Great mine, and a great job by you and the boys. Thanks. Five star as usual. *****. 😎
Great mine ⛏explore Justin
A most interesting mine! Lots of artifacts
That safety fuse box is shaped like that because it contained a spool of fuse.
That turn table is great to see. Thank you.
I concur with covellite. At first glance, I was thinking galena (lead sulfide) but on closer inspection, it is definitely blue indicative of copper. Very cool find.
No, it's definitely galena. Galena looks violet blue in large masses like this. Covellite occurs in the enriched zone of copper deposits. If it were covellite there would be a lot of secondary copper mineralisation, blue copper sulfate (chalcanthite) would be coating the walls.
The mineral appears to be covellite which is a simple sulfide of copper. It has a metallic dark blue color.
You took the words right out of my mouth. Thanks lol
I find red covellite where I’m located
Covellite was mined at a depth of up to 3,300 feet and was reported at one location to be in a vein 3 feet wide. This material is super rare and hard to find and is highly valued and prized by collectors and cutters around the world. (From Mr Google).
blackjack, or zincblende, dark metalic blue, zinc and galena mix, with a bit of copper and silver in the mix.? sphalerite?
No it's galena. Covellite occurs in the enriched zone of copper deposits. If it were covellite there would be a lot of secondary copper mineralisation, blue copper sulfate (chalcanthite) would be coating the walls.
That nice trail had to be built for the pack animals. Can you imagine that hoist, in pieces, on it’s way up?
A really good explore. Thanks, Justin!
I imagine the aerial tram went in first then the rest of the heavy equipment went up on the tram.
Hills Bros coffee was located on the shoreline of SF bay. I'll never forget driving over the bay bridge in the 60's and 70's and as you neared the city off to left was the giant HILLS BROS sign with big chimney stacks and the smell of roasting coffee thick in the air. I just made that trek a couple of weeks ago and remarked about how I missed that. This was a totally unexpectedly cool explore! I guess the more remote the mines are, the more stuff that has not been stolen. Thanks Justin!
I remember that well, iconic sight for bay area locals.
A “frog” 🐸 that is something I never thought I would see in a mine. I’ll always be impressed with the old miners’ sense of improvisation and creativity. That was a fun explore and a spectacular mine, so much to see in one location.
A cool explorer mate.. always a good day when I wake up to another Tvr video..stay safe.
I googled Lunkenheimer and it states that they are still making valves. I think the company now is named CVC.
Quite Correct!!! 🤠👍
Nice track! Always nice to see.
What a great mine. Cool seeing mine with really shallow dips to their orebodies unlike most.
That hoist looks like you could hook it up to power and it would run perfectly!!!
It's amazing what they just left!!!
Thanks for the video Justin and Co. With all of the makeshift things those miners came up with this mine should be nicknamed the MacGyver Mine. Hope all is well with you and yours Justin. Take care.
I’ve been watching exploring in the Welsh metal and slate mines. Those are all wet and/or flooded. It seems strange seeing such a dry mine.
@39:40 That extendable board may be for either holding a drill, or drill steel.
A most interesting mine! Lots of artifacts and individual ingenuity. It is amazing how low the back is in most places. Thanks Justin and Company!
Looks like could have been operating up into the 1950's or 60s'
I was looking at a mine in Derbyshire England from approximately 1600 You could see the pick marks where they hacked out the tunnel, then the drill holes for black powder as that later became available. No artefacts left after all that time, but in England they sold off all the metal machines for scrap when the mine closed. They did leave stuff inside the mine if it was too much trouble to drag out. .Another difference, most of our old mines are wet, most of yours are dry.
Great explore! And amazing to find the ore cart turntable and riveted receiver tank! Great finds… 🚢🇬🇧🚂⛏
When you find things to identify, a good clue to give is put a knife to it, so we can judge its hardness by whether it scratches or not.
I've seen a carbon leader in a lead mine with trace silver. It looked like a ribbon of coal and turned to lead sulfide if the whole thing wasn't made of that.
I have made almost all copper finishes like liver of sulfur (sodium poly sulfide) potassium poly sulfide.
Anyway... lots of that stuff used to fill etchings is black silver sulfide. Raw Niello is pretty crystalline, and black.
Could be a natural version.
Isn't manganese black as a sulfide? Not sure, I have filled etchings though, but it was too thin to compare with the thing you found.
The old miners were very smart, they worked so hard on these old mines, 1800's they used 100ft air drills, taking core drill samples, then assayed to see if there was at least a good 1- oz or more of Gold per ton or more, going through the ore shoot or old the ore carts, and using blasting caps etc.
That's a model A Ford motor
That thingy on the side of the winch round and curved. Is for a wide drive belt from the motor. The twisty thingy is buried in line with the tracks somewhere so you can turn the oar car. Fancy most used a square piece of flat steel, and you just skidded the cart around.
Lots of cool stuff to see. Great mine!
That was a great explore, it made you guys work for it for sure...the turntable was the first you have ever shown us I believe.
As you were at the end there, looking at the air lines etc piled up, explaining what had happened with the miners looking for more ore...I couldn't help but wonder what those men were feeling...having busted their behinds in that mine, moving so much material, and then coming to the place where there was simply no more pay dirt.
Would have loved to hear that conversation.
Drank a lot of Hills Bros over the years, still have a couple of Corningware percolators in my camping stuff.
That was quite the masterpiece of a mine!! My guess as to the black mineral would be galena…. But since you didn’t make that guess yourself I’m probably wrong
Good day sir, wow as a railroad nut, I am shocked that you have so much knowledge about railroad stuff. Fantastic video.
Lunkenheimer Vale Compnay open in 1862 know as Cincinnati Brass Works closed in 1968 when Condec bought its shareholders in a hostile takeover.
Nevada, New Mexico or Arizona. That was a Copper (related) mine. Really cool how preserved the equipment and artifacts are, for their age. Thank you for bringing us along!
Stunning filming once again , love the detail you relay to us watchers
Thank you very much. Glad you enjoyed it...
Another interesting mine. Awesome!
When you got to that expanding thing with the peg at the bottom, I remember seeing one of those at my grandmother's house as a child. I seem to recall that it was a vertical support to temporarily hold up a joist... but I assumed it was from her father who was a bricklayer... so definitely the explanation of it being used as a standing support makes a lot more sense.
I always love it when you show some artifact that triggers a vague memory from childhood buried away.. :) Great stuff as always.
Good evening from Southeast South Dakota
Very cool mine , great job I love your work
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Wow, awesome hike I would love to find some of that stuff here in Tucson. I find a lot of mines but they’re just very small nothing like this.
Great explore.
Obsidian, possibly,
It always makes me think how tough those old prospectors/miners were, from even finding a spot like that was probly miles and miles of hiking up and down those hills and then even befor getting to far into the hill, had to get all that "miney mine" stuff up there. Of couse it was part tough old horses and mules too. Low spots, wonder if they would lay down on a cart and get pulled through, or had dwarf miners.
@@martinr1834Nah! They had a diamond mine, and there’s no evidence of kimberlite in this one!!🤔😁
This is one of the very best mine exploration channels on the tube, and one of my favorites as well. Great videography, great knowledge, awesome mines and narration.👍🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽♥️
Thank you very much.
Good to see that mine is open now! It was sealed not to long ago.
The miners were probably off duty limbo dancers.
Can't help but wonder if possibly why a lot of these mines remained abandoned is, maybe not everyone working/running the mine never made it home from the war so the few that did just let it be. I'd imagine a lot if them would be pretty close friends.
34:15 That is an active geothermal vent.
This ore body is still 'alive' and forming right now.
It has been commented several other places that because it is an Extremely recent collapse the heat that is being generated is most likely coming from sulphur that is oxidizing and generating the heat!!! 🤠👍
That mine might have belonged to the seven dwarfs.
Seeing how open and accessible the mine is, it's truly amazing so much is intact.
again a great explore.
If I had to venture a guess it would be that the model T motor went with the winch and it was brought inside after the motor broke to get it out of the weather the winch was most likely used to power the tram system for which all the cable you couldn't find it's actually still outside.
As for the tracks and Poo I would just make a Wild guess that it belonged to a Raccoon.
I agree with other comments that point out due to the fact that it is a Very Extremely Recent collapse the heat that is being generated is probably due to the oxidation of sulfur!!! 🤠👍
P.s. Excellent Work As Always!!!
A very interesting mine. Thanks for letting me see it. The vein of what might be almost pure galena was exciting to see but it did make me wonder why they stopped after removing some of it. I found the short tunnels one of the most interesting features. I can't imagine normal sized humans using those kinds of adits that extensively and I'm really wondering if they used rail sleds for the miners to get through those tunnels comfortably.
Hi Justin, the mine looks pretty cool, I love the winze, best one I've seen. I don't think that was a miner's cat's paw prints because cat's retract their claws, not sure what else it could be though all the way out there unless Raccoon's are out that way ?. The shiny black mineral is most likely Galena, we have a lot of it here in Cornwall UK. The speckled rock you saw at 32:08 looks a lot like Granite. Thank you for sharing, much love. xx ❤
The reason for the height of the roof is because they were probably 4 foot miners ?? 🤣 Great video. 👏😁🇦🇺
16:00 That bent track was part of a switch.
An amazing, mine full of incredible mining relics.
Great video, thank you for making it
The narrow decline probably was in waste. The miners would keep it small so they would not have to move too much waste. Also, the" hot" stope could be caused by the decomposition of sulfide ore with water, oxidation, gives off heat. Carry a 02 meter with you in this type of mine.
I never thought about the sulfur becoming sulfur oxide and generating heat at that area, Good Point!!! 🤠👍
great explore dear sir. love watching
I think the pipe up the open stope was probably the exhaust for the winch engine.
Looks like an Ommpa Loompa mine made for little people! Another awesome explore on this one.
It must have been hell pushing orecarts up those rails. I didn't see any sign of a winch cabling to help pull carts out.
Thank you for sharing these awsome videos.. stay safe brother. Ypu should have checked out the jeans
Cool Mine for sure! Maybe the miners used a flat ore car to lay on, kind of like a mechanics creeper only you lie on your stomach to get around the low clearance parts. I cannot see miners walking on their knees all day long to get from point A to B, as that would be hell. Hard enough working on your knees in just one spot for hours at a time during the week. 🤔
Not sure if anyone has answered the question, is Lunkenheimer is still in business? The answer is yes and they are based out of Cincinnati OH. and the company opened in 1862.
I think that mineral is sphalerite [zinc sulphide] as I have well crystallized specimens in my collection. the dark shiny mineral didn't look that blue to me [covellite]
Justin quite the Spectacular experience really sink into your Bones How pick axes Hewn Through a Mountain with sweat and Blood!!!; )
1:18 I want to say I've learned something from watching various gold mine channels but for the life of me I can't recall the name of the type of rock in that outcropping.
10:01 unsurprisingly the Coast Mfg And Supply site in Livermore, CA is a superfund site.
Model A head gasket
Wonder if this mine was worked by the Chinese? Short workers….🤷♂️
What gets me everytime I watch one of these mine videos is all the wood just waisting away in those mines!!!
With the price of wood now it could be worth a great deal of money now!!!
Take only photographs and leave nothing but footprints!!! 🤠👍
The black shiny rock is probably Galena, A lead and silver conglomerate,
Galena is not a conglomerate. It is lead sulfide and often has silver in it.
I’ve encountered that shiny black deposit along surface faults which are associated with high iron deposits. Here in Montana they almost always run N by NW to S by SE. I’ve had a very mixed set of answers about what the glass-like substance may be. The deposits you encountered were much thicker than any I’ve observed. I’ll watch answers to see if a conclusive answer appears. It seems you are in a very dry climate and mine, yet it may have been wet at one time. Why I say this is because the faults I’ve found with the black shiny substance are also associated with ancient river beds which carried alluvial gravels containing pacer gold. Some of those river beds are now very deeply buried yet were dug it by miners. Great adventure!
Isn't that railed , angle down shaft , with the hoist , a de-cline ? , being it's inside , and if it ran to the surface , an incline shaft ! Very nice find at any rate !!! ✔️😎
Wow 🤠 thanks!!
Those slip boards was probably used for a crude jack leg for a drill ! Maybe
Hi, if you’re interested in coming back to Sardinia/Italy one more time I’ve found some really good mines. 2 of them explored a little and they’re plenty of stuff.. would be a big pleasure to show you the entrance and know from you what’s actually inside! If you’re interested just send me a message! Cheers.
Matt.
Btw they’re really big/long mines. Probably a full day is not enough to explore one of those two completely.
That's levit rock, I recognize it any were, good job detailing what we're looking at fantastic, enjoyed it, bro , exploring is cool, it's in our blood
Thanks for the video! Always a real treat to see that old equipment, and I'll agree with the others it looks like a nice vein of covellite. Depending on the other metals in the deposit you can get some really cool mixed metal sulfide minerals. One of my favorites is called Bornite; a mixture of copper, iron, and sulfur, it's commonly sold in rock shops and called peacock ore because it looks spectacular. --- This is a bit off topic, and I'm going to apologize in advance for complaining... However I swear UA-cam is reducing the bitrate of their videos, or they changed how they scale or render them or something idk. I had to double check the video was in 1080p because it is so pixelated it looks like upscaled 720p, even from 5 feet away it looks pixelated! Really sucks for the content creators, you go to all this effort to make a YT video and upload it like you always have, only it looks worse than it used to. Also to be clear I'm calling out Google and UA-cam for intentionally reducing the quality of their 1080p videos. Shitty business tactics to force people to buy YT premium, but also simply because worse video quality = money saved = CEO/executive pay raise.
To help with terminology, that's not waste rock it's called "tailings" or mine tailings. Early on in your vid, it appears to me those 2-55 gallon drums, welded together with the hanging hoop WERE ORE BUCKETS, later when you showed the Ariel Cable, no question that's how the flew the ore down the hill. Plus look at where it was left out in the open? Yes as well though, tools and equipment COULD have been hauled up as well. That "octagon" cardboard box held fuse coiled in a circle to allow it to feed out as required, or held a 500 to 1,000 foot spool.
That hoist, yes those are oil cups, felt or rag was placed in them to allow oil to "wick" slowly vs just flow out all at once into the bearing!
The Union Carbide tin (that's a big one) obviously held Calcium Carbide for lamps, miners lamps, dripping water on it produced acetylene gas, prior to this, they used candle "spikes" that held a single candle and could be hung or poked into a crack, "VARNEY" was a mfgr of these and they can be found today signed with that maker, but are overall scarce.
No, Google it... Tailings are what is left over after the milling process. Waste rock is exactly what it sounds like and is what was outside of this mine. I agree with the rest of what you said.
38:52 Those are called board or timber jacks, spikes go into the ground and bracket on top is for framing of walk boards so you are correct.
That last section feels hot because it is radioactive! Lol bring a Geiger counter next time. Lol
Exactly what I was thinking initially. That the rock showed wet areas lends to the geothermal vent theory.
There are several other comments that point out due to the fact that it is a Very Extremely Recent collapse the heat that is being generated is probably due to the oxidation of sulfur!!! 🤠👍