Uploaded August 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
I thought the interesting part about this video was going to be that this abandoned mine had been dug open, but instead, it was how dangerous it was... Having been invited into many of the other gold mines in the area that intersect that exact same serpentine vein that you see in this mine, I can tell you that every one of those mines is caved right where they hit that same vein. So, it really is bad news. This video footage is a few years old and now having worked as an underground gold miner in rock with a lot of serpentine, I can tell you that that section in the video is even worse than we appreciated at the time.
With the oxygen and dry air hitting many parts of this mine after it had been left undisturbed for so long, stuff was coming down all over the place. I didn’t fully understand the power of that until we opened up new areas in our gold mine that had been blocked off for decades and things immediately began to come apart with the dry air and oxygen. The dry air shrinks support timbers and the fresh air sends the process of them rotting into overdrive. Dry air also shrinks mud that may have been acting as a sort of glue or at least helping to fill a void. When that pressure is reduced from the mud drying out and shrinking, things can shift and cave. The same holds true for rock that is suddenly exposed to different humidity levels or oxidation. Those can seem like subtle changes, but, sometimes, the forces that are holding large sections of rock together are pretty subtle.
A recently dewatered mine presents similar dangers. Aside from the factors mentioned above, the pressure from the water acts as an agent holding things together. When that is disturbed, the likelihood of things caving increases – sometimes dramatically…
*****
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!
*****
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. But, you know what? We enjoy doing it! This is exploring history firsthand – bushwhacking down steep canyons and over rough mountains, figuring out the techniques the miners used and the equipment they worked with, seeing the innovations they came up with, discovering lost mines that no one has been in for a century, wandering through ghost towns where the only sound is the wind... These journeys allow a feeling of connection to a time when the world was a very different place. And I’d love to think that in some small way we are paying tribute to those hardy miners that worked these mines before we were even born.
So, yes, in short, we are adit addicts… I hope you’ll join us on these adventures!
#ExploringAbandonedMines
#MineExploring
#AbandonedMines
#UndergroundMineExploring
I thought the interesting part about this video was going to be that this abandoned mine had been dug open, but instead, it was how dangerous it was... Having been invited into many of the other gold mines in the area that intersect that exact same serpentine vein that you see in this mine, I can tell you that every one of those mines is caved right where they hit that same vein. So, it really is bad news. This video footage is a few years old and now having worked as an underground gold miner in rock with a lot of serpentine, I can tell you that that section in the video is even worse than we appreciated at the time.
With the oxygen and dry air hitting many parts of this mine after it had been left undisturbed for so long, stuff was coming down all over the place. I didn’t fully understand the power of that until we opened up new areas in our gold mine that had been blocked off for decades and things immediately began to come apart with the dry air and oxygen. The dry air shrinks support timbers and the fresh air sends the process of them rotting into overdrive. Dry air also shrinks mud that may have been acting as a sort of glue or at least helping to fill a void. When that pressure is reduced from the mud drying out and shrinking, things can shift and cave. The same holds true for rock that is suddenly exposed to different humidity levels or oxidation. Those can seem like subtle changes, but, sometimes, the forces that are holding large sections of rock together are pretty subtle.
A recently dewatered mine presents similar dangers. Aside from the factors mentioned above, the pressure from the water acts as an agent holding things together. When that is disturbed, the likelihood of things caving increases – sometimes dramatically…
*****
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!
*****
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. But, you know what? We enjoy doing it! This is exploring history firsthand – bushwhacking down steep canyons and over rough mountains, figuring out the techniques the miners used and the equipment they worked with, seeing the innovations they came up with, discovering lost mines that no one has been in for a century, wandering through ghost towns where the only sound is the wind... These journeys allow a feeling of connection to a time when the world was a very different place. And I’d love to think that in some small way we are paying tribute to those hardy miners that worked these mines before we were even born.
So, yes, in short, we are adit addicts… I hope you’ll join us on these adventures!
#ExploringAbandonedMines
#MineExploring
#AbandonedMines
#UndergroundMineExploring
