A Visually Stunning Lead-Zinc-Silver Mine – The Deeper We Go, The Better It Gets
A Visually Stunning Lead-Zinc-Silver Mine – The Deeper We Go, The Better It Gets
The most enjoyable explorations I’ve done are of mines that keep getting better and better the farther you go into them. These are mines that just keep on giving and each level you explore is more exciting than the last. This is one of those mines. From the headframe, ore bin, and incredible dry-stacked walls outside, we had a feeling that this mine was going to be neat, and that assumption was absolutely correct. As we descended into the depths of this mine, not only did the artifacts get better, the geology did too! This mine contained some of the most visually stunning geology I have seen. We saw a whole lot of calcite, but it wasn’t like anything we’ve seen before. The individual crystal grains were huge and there were clusters of it large enough to cover the whole drift floor to back. Inside the calcite were pockets and veins of beautiful mineralization. I can’t imagine what the ore they removed looked like. This was a lead, silver, copper, and zinc mine that was worked primarily from the early 1890s to just after the turn of the century. It was then worked on and off into the 1950s.
One thing to note, I am not sure if the last level we were on was really the 640 level. It may have actually been the 400 level, as it didn’t feel like we climbed nearly 640 feet of ladders. If I was mistaken, then one of those two winzes we saw may actually go down 240 feet. We plan to return to this mine to drop those winzes and explore areas we were not able to access this time, so stay tuned for that.
Link to Xavier’s channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtSTFGvu0wg4CyTuGEJWuIg
O zoti o zoti o zoti o zoti o zoti o zoti o zoti o zoti o zoti o zoti o zoti o zoti o bekim vlla.zoti edh mata zoti bekim te gjithve
arseno pyrites arsenic don`t touch ! might be sulphur , you would smell it !
That’s some of the nicest colors I have ever seen
Cool but, how is a 134 year old ladder still there?
At 28 23 you found a piece of volcanic tuff. You can see examples of tuff on those Iceland volcano blogs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eZGzJVaccI
Have you thought about taking specimens of the minerals and rocks along with the videos and some high quality still pictures and maybe going to schools in the nearby areas and educating the youngsters ,the youth need all the help they can get to persuade them into the beauty of nature and the planet they live on instead of the corrupt shit they are experiencing.,lime my old mining partner used to say ,educate them cumstains 😜🤪🤔seriously though ,maybe think about using your knowledge to mold youngins into the ways of the old days.
Amazing
I would love to have that news paper from Guanacevi, Mexico. It’s a municipality from the state of Durango, from where I was born.
The bag of tobacco is bull Durham
This is a really great film! The ‘ice looking’ grey metallic mineralisation on the lower levels looks like lead (galena) to me, mixed with Zincblende (and black Sphallerite), oxidising pyrite and possibly some silver ore. Looks pretty impressive stuff. But sitting back here in the UK watching this, its difficult to be sure. But love the film and the geology and the history.
… those old time miners must have had balls of steel working down there with just a pick axe and candles for company
My uncle grandpa Jack leg drill in the coal mine in Alaska and gold mine
Awesome video and interesting geology! One thing stood out: NEVER touch old dynamite, even breathe on it! It can sweat nitroglycerine crystals that are sensitive to light touch, making it extremely dangerous.
Those offset cubes of calcite are called rhombic crystals. Also, the tilted rock face with occasional timbers against it is called a hanging wall, where silver ore tends to concentrate. I explored some really old silver mines in the Calico area before they sealed them all. There was a deep level with tracks. The hanging wall had numerous 2′ tree trunks supporting it as they excavated the ore. Over the decades, the weight had crushed some of these by several inches so there was a band of exploded wood fibers. At the top of the rickety ladders to the lowest level, there was a piece of wood from a fruit box dated 1948 or so, and that was late in the mine’s life. Someone spraypainted an arrow and "To hell!"
Not knowing how either of those compounds were mined, I wish you could show how the raw lead, zinc, silver and copper were located in the mine and what it looked like. IDK I could easily walk pass any of them and not even know it.
Awesome !! What town is this place near ???
That mine is still Good.
This is the first video I’ve posted that was filmed with my new camera! Let me know what you think of it. Personally I think it’s a big improvement, especially in regards to stability.
I still have a few videos to post that were filmed with the older one.
why are there so many un mined vains
**The newspaper was used to wipe with after taking a Shit,no one was doing much reading by candle down there.**
Its now worth it to mine that lumber left down there
@7:00 Go for it, Bro. What’s the worst that could happen?
👍
Great video, thanks ! When I see such old mines explored I’m always hoping for some great mineral specimen being retrieved. But I guess chances of that are practically nil…. a mine would not get abandoned before it was completely dry.
That is a Bull Dhurm Tobacow Bag, it had about 50 wheat straw Papers.. It was all My Grandmother Smoked and I smoked it in the 60’s-70’s.. The Tabaco was thin Brown Flat Flakes, it didn’t have any Salt Peter in it so it would go out if you didn’t Puff on it
I saw a northern exploration crew had the other half of that tobacco pipe
1:46 – F*CK NO you just began and everything you touch is crumbling… stop ffs
Some raisins……………that’s not an artifact.
hahahahahaha that actually made me laugh out loud.
Note the JFT grafitti gives you a date for that pencil.
Bunker Hill Mine in Kellogg, Idaho. The world famous Bunker Hill produced over 150 million ounces of silver and 10’s of millions of pounds of lead and zinc. It operated for more than 100 years and has over 300 miles of underground workings. It is 8.3 ounces.
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/silver-lead-zinc-ore-sample-bunker-1814783925
I have watched hours and hours of this stuff and I have no idea of what the material they were pulling out looks like…I got to explore a mine when I was a kid back in AZ and it was a strange sounding experience.. the feel and noise is like nothing else…
Zzs
Flm shum baba BABA BABA BABA BABA BABA BABA BABA BABA BABA BABA BABA BABA BABA BABA BABA BABA BABA BABA BABA BABA BABA
نفق الا شنو هاذا منجم ذهب
How come you guys don’t use any safety ropes?
Slag has kind of a burnt crispy texture.
I’m in. joking this gold mine just be careful guys were having fun
watching
Video – "Looks like it’s backfilled"
Me – Yah, backfilled with a freaking CAVE IN!
ทั้งเพชร,ทั้งทองคำ💧💧💧🏞🏞🏞🌄🌅🌆🛎
3:32 What is that? Does anyone else see that.
Have you guys ever thought about starting a museum with all the artifacts you find would be so cool if you could do that
THANKS THE GEOLOGICAL FINDS ARE GREAT IN COLOR. GLAD YOU MADE THIS VIDEO. THE CAMERA MAKES IT LOOK GREAT.
Rajaramdawar
I don’t know the mining engineering.but it is nice..GOD bless you
not a rope in sight or any safety gear got to @ 7:18 switched off..
You had Prince Albert in a pouch
What an adventure! 😃👍
Beautiful mineralization
That’s Prince Albert tobacco
Hey guys, they invented ‘rope’ around 2500 BC, think you should consider carrying a shank or two? Is there no history documented on these mines? Doesn’t the local town have papers on what this mine was all about, who owned it, how many people worked there, when it closed, why it closed? I am always amazed at the work the must have been required to did through all that rock, what a terrible job, lugging all that ore out of the mine. You’ve got to have mining in your blood to do this kind of work!
Rajaramdawar