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Went back into the mine shaft a few days ago. This ore cart was where we'd stopped on the last excursion.
Looking forward, the shaft stretches into the darkness, curving to the right.
The shaft turned and twisted and the spring water got shallower. About 300 feet in there was a cave-in completely blocking any further exploration. The ore cart tracks continue underneath the collapse and one can only imagine how far the shaft went at one time.
On the way out ahttp://imageshack.us/a/img694/6996/051fb.jpg little flash of gold color on the wall got my attention.
Very cool stuff, I'm jealous. These newer photos illustrate some interesting geology. In the last photo you can see a very clear fault plane on the left side. On the right side there appears to be some mineralization which no doubt was deposited there by way of that fault. I'd be curious to know what the grade of the ore is -- typically the old timers wouldn't bother knocking a hole into the mountain unless the grades were high.
I'd be willing to bet that fault-controlled ore body extends through the floor and roof, and who knows how far laterally going away from the fault. I think it would be neat if you took a few samples from the mine and submitted them for fire assay to see just how much gold and silver is present. Looks like there's some copper mineralizaion in some of those rocks as well.
In the third pic (the cave-in) -- is that an old flask resting on a rock against the wall on the left?
Awesome! any plans to try and clear the cave in and explore further back? It would be creepy if you cleared the blockage and found a long lost miner skeleton! Or who knows what relics could be back there. More mining equip, pickaxes, flasks, shovels, oh man looks like fun. :2thumbs:
he can use the rusty mine cart silly. To find cool treasures, sometimes ya gotta take a couple risks.
why would you expect gas pockets in a hard rock mine?
I didn't expect gas pockets, smartass, I didn't expect anything, I'm trying to be safe here in an unstable, unexplored mine. This is new to me, I'm a construction guy skilled in above ground work. The only underground stuff I've done was when I was roughnecking in the oilfields back in my younger days.
A. From what I saw inside that mine with the cave-ins and blocked ore carts that place is unstable.
B. We have stumbled across one helluva resource. Be it wine cellar or a springwater cistern or a bug out place.
C. Mine that sumbitch
Noxious gases in abandoned hard rock mines are common. If the ore mineral being mined was a sulfide (Galena, Sphalerite, Pyrite, Chalcopyrite, Argentite, Acanthite, etc, etc) then there is a risk of sulfur dioxide and or hydrogen sulfide gases being produced as a result of being in contact with the open air -- especially stagnant air in the presence of standing water. Those two gases are also produced as a product of blasting. If the mine was timbered, the timbers will release carbon monoxide as they rot.
Found this old pick down at the year-round creek below the mine. Also a fig tree, which is out of place, but doing well and producing.
That item caught my eye too, rockgremlin, when I was in there. It's a chunk of wood, not a flask. I suspect they'd had trouble with that portion of the mine caving in and that is what remains of some shoring.
The pick has a stamp on it: Iron City
The forge was founded in 1854 in Pittsburgh, PA. Once owned by Andrew and Thomas Carnegie. They made a fortune during the civil war.
It kinda looks like there may have been a lot more water in there at one time. There is a line where it appears caliche (or hard water calcium deposits) deposited on the walls, and there is a marked difference in "dustiness" above and below that line (see attached pic). Does that sound like that could have occurred just from what you've seen in person?
I can't stop ogling these images....it's like porn for mining engineers. :haha:
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I wouldn't doubt that the water was that high at some point. Maybe for many years. I think it all depends on how tall the blockage was at the entrance. The shaft has a slight incline to it, and the water is deepest at the entrance. There is water seeping out from under the cave-in and I suspect that the shaft on the other side is full of water.
If we open up the entrance to the mine all the standing water will drain, but there will always be a stream running out of it (unless the spring runs dry).
Glad you enjoy the pics, rockgremlin. I have more, but some of the quality isn't good.
You think it's a good idea to knock around getting samples? Should we look for fault lines?