Making Silver From Ore I Found In An Abandoned Mine

Making Silver From Ore I Found In An Abandoned Mine

I’ve wanted to make pure silver as long as I’ve owned an abandoned silver mine. This past week, I found a book published in 1886 that walked through all the different steps. It was raining, so what better thing to do than read up and try to make the first batch of Cerro Gordo silver in a VERY long time.

I went back in the mines, collected galena, and set off to take it all the way down to silver, the way they did it back in the 1800s. Turns out, making silver isn’t the easiest thing, but it did bring me a LOT of appreciation for all the miners, smelters, and assayers who called this town home back in the 1800s.

Special thanks to Matt P, a volunteer who read this book too and helped make this happen!

The base bullion bar is given away, but enter to win a Cerro Gordo ring! Made of pure Cerro Gordo silver! Free to enter here: https://kingsumo.com/g/an70ts/win-a-cerro-gordo-silver-ring

Thank you all so so much for subscribing!

More photos from around the town here: https://www.instagram.com/brentwunderwood/

Cerro Gordo T-Shirts and more: https://store.cerrogordomines.com/

Mailing Address: PO Box 490, Lone Pine, CA 93545

THANK YOU!

50 Comments

  1. Tolerance Respect Peace on May 17, 2022 at 12:42 am

    Great job 👍❤️❤️

  2. Stem Artin on May 17, 2022 at 12:42 am

    There’s still quite a bit of galena in my local area (Weardale, UK)
    Lower amounts per tonne I think though mainly mined for the lead…

  3. WatchDutch MD on May 17, 2022 at 12:43 am

    Love all the videos you create ❤️🔥

  4. KrockpotBroccoli on May 17, 2022 at 12:43 am

    I was thinking… Boudrie’s blast furnace stack looks an awful lot like a quad flue center chimney from a colonial era post and beam New England house. There are a lot of solid timbers laying around from the old tramway. One could conceivably build such a structure right there without having to hew out a single beam or even build a chimney (although the stack would have to be modified to accommodate fireplaces instead of a smelter).

  5. Vise Diesel on May 17, 2022 at 12:44 am

    I just got 22oz of it today I’m hooked. On silver 😄

  6. Rodney Carey on May 17, 2022 at 12:44 am

    My vacation plans just changed, I have to visit this place!

  7. Dabber Dan on May 17, 2022 at 12:45 am

    Brent check out the gentleman over at Mt Baker Mining and Metal. He’s come up with a fantastic jaw crushers and a miller table. He’s very good with q pelting and separation of sulfides from precious metals of all kinds. I am not friends with him but what he does is exactly what you may need. Love your channel keep up the fantastic living!

  8. Jamie Hughes on May 17, 2022 at 12:45 am

    Galena is so sparkling , shame the lead in it makes it a health hazard,I’d get some for my mineral collection

  9. Erin Tucker on May 17, 2022 at 12:46 am

    Such a beautiful soul! Love what you are doing! Thank you for keeping history alive and sharing it with the world. You’re a real eye opener

  10. Phonotical on May 17, 2022 at 12:48 am

    Galena is lead sulphide, the silver likely comes in the lead, as it has for thousands of years, which is why Romans used to tax lead as an imperial product

  11. Gregg KUZILA on May 17, 2022 at 12:51 am

    Maybe you can open the mine again make a lot of money maybe

  12. Heuristic ALgorithm on May 17, 2022 at 12:53 am

    More ghost hunting vids please.

  13. FrontYard4X4 on May 17, 2022 at 12:53 am

    I’m one of the people that have a job that involves the materials that go into electronics

  14. Izy Sly on May 17, 2022 at 12:54 am

    You are living my dream.

  15. Jerald Lifsey on May 17, 2022 at 12:55 am

    24:59 1.5 grams = 0.0529 ounces. Silver is $22.75 per ounce today. That is $1.20 worth of silver! Definitely have to create a huge economies of scale to overcome the fuel to melt all of that to create enough silver to be worth while

  16. bye on May 17, 2022 at 12:59 am

    Came here from heavydsparks!!
    nice channel you have!!

  17. Burrowgroves on May 17, 2022 at 1:01 am

    Is your Channel monetized at all ? Your town could be already gaining revenue from your amazing videos!

  18. Noelle Hagen on May 17, 2022 at 1:02 am

    How much can i pay you to make a size 5 silver ring for me??🥺

  19. Robert Wall on May 17, 2022 at 1:02 am

    Thank you for sharing your intense love of the Cero Gordo mines and your adventures which you document so well. Your videos allow me to ride along on a journey that I find so very interesting but my fear of the underground workings wont let me do. I have a dream of someday visiting the Cero Gordo mines and touring the mechanical and early electrical systems employed there.

    Thanks again for sharing your dream with us!!
    Bob Wall

  20. theother Ed on May 17, 2022 at 1:03 am

    Great educational video. Thanks

  21. into the wild on May 17, 2022 at 1:04 am

    DONT BREATH IN THOSE FUMES ! Fumes from zinc and lead which are most likely in it as well are very toxic

  22. any neuvecelle on May 17, 2022 at 1:05 am

    We love Cerro Gordo, we have been there before you bought the town. Almost died goingdown hill. Thank you so much for the vidéos. Is it possible to come visit?

  23. Helena Smith on May 17, 2022 at 1:07 am

    Omg assay your claim

  24. Derrick Brailsford on May 17, 2022 at 1:10 am

    Take a shot every time he says Cerro Gordo…..

  25. Brady Hobza on May 17, 2022 at 1:11 am

    Not only amazing and impressive the work you did, but how very professional the video was made, complete with historical photos, drone shots, excellent narration, etc. You are a true talent!

  26. Debbie Rivers on May 17, 2022 at 1:11 am

    No wonder silver is such a precious mineral with all the steps needed to extract it from the galena (sp). A little bead of silver; grams.
    This makes me appreciate the crown on the head joint of my flute even more so, as it is made of solid silver.

  27. Honey Hollow Homestead on May 17, 2022 at 1:15 am

    That is an amazing give away! It’s not just the precious metal, but the history and the labor that you put into it! It’s priceless!

  28. Bill Edwards on May 17, 2022 at 1:16 am

    It always amazes me how many people it actually takes to make the simplest thing that we take for granted come to fruition. The lesson is to appreciate all our blessings, even the seemingly small ones. Thank you to all the people that made this cup of coffee possible.

  29. MJM’s Workshop on May 17, 2022 at 1:23 am

    That’s awesome that you are giving it away to a subscriber.

  30. Miles and Hikes on May 17, 2022 at 1:24 am

    I loved this!!! Brent, you fit so well in Cerro Gordo now, that I can’t ever imagine you living in a city like NYC or Austin ever again. And that is a compliment!

  31. Bence Lukács on May 17, 2022 at 1:24 am

    sheeesh

  32. Schneider Classics on May 17, 2022 at 1:24 am

    awesome video mate, that is really really cool how much work you put in and created a bar like they would have then.

  33. Alfred Todd on May 17, 2022 at 1:25 am

    Thanks 👍

  34. Gabriel on May 17, 2022 at 1:26 am

    Brent, how are you these days? I am hoping for nothing but success for you. What you are doing is remarkable for this country. Thank You for bringing us back part of our past. I truly appreciate you.

  35. Vance McCarthy on May 17, 2022 at 1:26 am

    If a miner had to sell his claim, who would Belshore get to continue to dig the mine.

  36. Aashay Kadu on May 17, 2022 at 1:27 am

    General Kenobi

  37. Kurt Bogle on May 17, 2022 at 1:29 am

    Your curiosity is contagious! Thank you!

  38. Signin ups on May 17, 2022 at 1:31 am

    Make a go fund me dude!

  39. Mountain Child on May 17, 2022 at 1:31 am

    Thank You Now I know what to do with my specimens of Galina

  40. MapleDelta on May 17, 2022 at 1:31 am

    I would imagine it’s been said before but here is my request for some colabing! You are doing some fantastic work here with the history of cerro gordo and I would love to see some smelting colaboration, especially a comparision between the way smelting was done before and how it would be done today!

  41. Quambas Quambillion on May 17, 2022 at 1:32 am

    …You made more value from your work in a week than I do wtf, 1500 of silver doing a hobby? I’d be lucky to break 900.

    I want to be a miner, suddenly.

  42. Dave Cottrell on May 17, 2022 at 1:33 am

    Just a word of warning: handling lead with your bare hands is very dangerous. I have a friend who almost died just from counting lead sheets with his bare hands.

  43. Jeff Fogle on May 17, 2022 at 1:34 am

    Guess that’s why they had made blast furnace.. You have to do a bunch

  44. Leon Riffe on May 17, 2022 at 1:35 am

    How would you like to have a go to guy , someone who know a little something about everything , and what I don’t know- well we can google now . When can I come out your way

  45. showgirls around the world a dancer family on May 17, 2022 at 1:35 am

    Well thats a cool thing to give away!

  46. Vern Thornblad on May 17, 2022 at 1:36 am

    So true about all the workers and contributors who make the things we want and need. It’s also true that the folks who benefit most from all that work and dedication are not those who make the stuff for us, but those who market the products and manage the system. If you think about it, the marketers and managers who keep things organized are providing a service that to a degree, gets in the way of the relationship between the makers of things and the consumers of those things. They have value, but I doubt one could logically argue that a manager (CEO) contributes value to the maker-consumer relationship that is millions of times more valuable than the maker’s contribution. We need to rethink how we place value of people’s contributions.

  47. james dowell on May 17, 2022 at 1:38 am

    For all the time labor and expense involved to refine 1 oz of .999% pure silver for under $30 current price tells you just how under valued and munipulated the price of silver is! Hell of a job of showing perspective and what it took to build this country and how the robber barons worked to over capitalize. As the song goes"Owe my soul to the company store." Good job Brent!

  48. Kristie Cox on May 17, 2022 at 1:40 am

    I’d make a copy of that book just in case. So cool
    Crazy how they even figured this stuff out.
    Dang, too bad I just came across your channel today. 😂
    What work that must have been to make that.

  49. Lehi Silver on May 17, 2022 at 1:41 am

    Basically what you’re saying silver as of today’s price is $21.30 an ounce it’s the most undervalued asset on the planet and we should be buying it as an investment !!! It derives its price and worth from the derivative market everything subside down..

  50. Donald Schwartz on May 17, 2022 at 1:41 am

    At the end, what you were referring to was capitalism. It’s not perfect but it creates all these needs and job. This video was fascinating and eye opening. Thank you!

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